Norwegian minister travels to Sudan to push for peace

Sept 30, 2005 (OSLO) — Norwegian Minister of International Development Hilde Frafjord Johnson will travel to Sudan to meet the new government and push for a nationwide peace, her ministry said Friday.

Norway helped mediate a peace accord that was signed in January to end a 21-year civil war in southern Sudan, but violence continues unabated in a separate conflict in the western region of Darfur.

Johnson will visit Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, on Oct. 1-4 to meet the government that took office on Sept. 15, as well as regional officials, her ministry announced.

“It is very positive that a new, unified government in Khartoum is now in place,” she said in a statement. “We expect the government to push ahead with carrying out the peace agreement, and work to create peace in all of Sudan.”

She also urged donor nations to follow through on pledges made earlier this year at a donor conference in Norway’s capital, Oslo.

“I will also raise the situation in Darfur, which is still extremely difficult,” she said.

Norway, home of the Nobel Peace Prize and a mediator in some of the world’s worst conflicts, is providing economic support and expertise for Darfur peace talks lead by the African Union.

The Darfur uprising began in February 2004 when rebels took up arms against what they saw as years of state neglect and discrimination against Sudanese of African origin.

The United Nation estimates that the conflict has left 180,000 people dead and driven 2 million from their homes.

(AP/ST)