Eritrean delegation holds talks with Sudanese political forces

Oct 16, 2005 (KHARTOUM) — The Eritrean delegation led by the chairman of organizational affairs in the ruling party, Abdallah Jabir, Abdellah Jabir, held talks today with the assistant to the Sudanese president, Nafie Ali Nafie and the vice president of the National Congress party (NCP) and head of political and organizational affairs.

During the meeting held at the National Congress party’s hall in Khartoum, Nafie praised the Government of Eritrea’s initiative towards pushing relations with the Sudan forward, furthermore assuring the visiting delegation that the NCP and the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) would jointly step up efforts for the agreements between Eritrea and the Sudan to be successfully implemented.

Nafie added that both the NCP and the SPLM as well as both governments have a shared responsibility of promoting the interests of the brotherly peoples of Eritrea and the Sudan. He further said that the Sudanese government would soon reciprocate Eritrea’s bold move by sending a high-level Sudanese delegation on a visit to Eritrea.

After indicating that the prevalence of peace in the Sudan of great importance to Eritrea, Jabir expressed Eritrea’s readiness to take on a leading role in ensuring the implementation and success of the peace agreement reached between the NCP and the SPLM.

The Eritrean delegation also conducted a series of meetings with an SPLM delegation headed by Abdelaziz Helu where both sides reviewed developments in the political arena in the Sudan. The two parties were of the conviction that Eritrea would still be an active player in promoting the success of reached agreements at this juncture. In praising Eritrea’s move towards revitalizing relations with the Sudan, the SPLM leadership expressed full support for the joint agreement signed between the two countries last Thursday.

Also at the hall of the Ali Al-Mirghani’s premises, the Eritrean delegation held talks on Friday with deputy secretary general, Ali Mahmoud Hassenein and other members of the opposition Democratic Unity Party (DUP).

Saturday 15 october, the Eritrean delegation held similar talks with the vice chairperson of the Beja Congress and head of the front, Amna Nur-Hussein.

During the series of meetings the Eritrean delegation held, the Sudanese officials hailed the government of Eritrea for taking the initiative towards bolstering Eritrean-Sudanese ties and ensuring peace in the region. They also similarly expressed their support to the agreements reached between Eritrea and Sudan.

Sudan and Eritrea on Monday 10 October agreed to work to improve relations between the two neighbours after years of strained ties dogged by rows and mutual accusations.

(Shabait/ST)