Sudan VP briefs Syrian president on peace talks

DAMASCUS, Oct 7 (AFP) — Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Taha, who late last month signed a new interim peace agreement with southern rebels, Tuesday briefed Syrian President Bashir al-Assad on efforts to end his country’s 20-year-old civil war.

Taha delivered a message from Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Beshir assuring Assad that the peace deal, which foresees a referendum on independence for south Sudan in six years’ time, was aimed at “preserving the country’s unity”, Syria’s official SANA news agency said.

During his meeting with Assad, Taha also pledged Sudan’s support for Syria following Israel’s first attack on its territory in nearly three decades and “condemned the Israeli aggression on Syrian soil.”

The Sudanese president had telephoned Assad Monday to inquire about the situation following the Israeli air raid on an alleged Palestinian militant training camp northwest of Damascus, the official Khartoum daily Al-Anbaa reported.

Beshir was quoted as saying the raid “reflected the state terrorism being practised by Israel against the people of Palestine, its repeated violation of international conventions and threat to world peace and security.”

Sudan will remain in the “same trench” with Syria in the face of the Israeli acts of aggression, Beshir told Assad.

The Sudanese foreign ministry and ruling National Congress also issued statements condemning the Israeli raid.

The ruling party described the air raid as a “grave escalation of the situation in the Middle East.”

Syria, which like Sudan is accused by the United States of sponsoring terrorism, has asked the UN Security Council to condemn the Israeli attack.