Sudan’s Salva Kiir to visit Cairo

Aug 6, 2006 (CAIRO) — Sudanese First Vice-President and President of Southern Sudan government Salva Kiir is expected to visit Cairo to discuss southern Sudan development and Egyptian contribution in this regard.

According to Asharq al-Awsat daily, Salva Kiir is due to start an official visit to Cairo Monday, for the second time since his appointment.

Salva Kiir will meet the Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak to discuss how Egypt can help in the economic development of southern Sudan and fields where Egypt can contribute in.

Kiir would also discuss with the Mubarak the Egyptian role to attract Arabic funds to Southern Sudan. Egypt is expected to lobby Arabic countries to invest and participate in the build-up of the south.

Egypt and Kuwait are the two Arabic countries that are involved in the development of the south.

The Jongli Project is expected to be one of the issues that Salva Kiir will talk about.

The southern Sudan minister of irrigation Joseph Jacoq is visiting nowadays Egypt to discuss Jongli Canal Project. Construction works at the canal were halted in 1984 after the start of the second rebellion in the Southern Sudan.

Jongli Canal Project was the topic of the late John Garang Ph.D. thesis. He was in favour of the resumption of the project.

Kiir is also expected to hold talks with the chairman of the National Democratic Alliance Mohamed Osman al-Merghani to discuss means to reactivate their cooperation. Al-Merghani was a close ally to the SPLM before Garang death. But despite of the continued formal contacts between the two political forces Kiir distanced the SPLM from the NDA. It seems that the SPLM sees now it needs to enhance ties with northern democratic forces.

In the past years Egypt received regularly SPLM leadership; also important numbers of southern Sudanese are studying currently in Egyptian universities.

(ST)