Ruling party signs agreement with opposition Beja Congress

By Sudanese TV

KHARTOUM, Dec 11, 2003 — An agreement was signed today between the [ruling] National Congress and the [opposition] Beja Congress.

The secretary for economic affairs, Dr Majdhub al-Khalifah Ahmad, signed on behalf of the National Congress, while the secretary- general of the Beja Congress, Umar Muhammad Al-Tahir, signed on behalf of the Beja Congress.

Present at the ceremony held at the National Congress general HQs, were the secretary-general, Prof Ibrahim Ahmad Umar, Kassala [eastern Sudan] Governor Lt-Gen Faruq Hasan Muhammad Nur, and the minister of roads and bridges, Muhammad Tahir Ela, as well as a number of NC representatives from eastern states. [Passage omitted: repetitive comments by reporter]

[The Beja Congress has been fighting government troops in eastern Sudan in the last couple of years and is part of the umbrella opposition alliance, the National Democratic Alliance.]

BBC Monitoring Middle East