Sudan open to trade with Brazil – official

Dec 15, 2006 (RIO DE JANEIRO) — A Sudanese official said on Friday that his country is open to trade with Brazil — a response to the South American country’s support in the United Nations, Brazilian media reported.

Doors are open to Brazil, Abdel Salam, director of the Cooperation Department in Sudan’s finance ministry, said in an interview with a Brazilian newspaper.

The comment came after Brazil voted in favor of the Sudan’s government in the United Nations where European countries demanded an investigation into the conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan.

Sudan has resisted the deployment of UN peacekeepers in the volatile western region.

Brazil supported Africa at international organizations, said Salam, adding that the support was a manifestation of cooperation among the countries from the South.

He said his government was in negotiations with Brazil’s state-owned oil and gas giant Petrobras, and planed to reach an agreement with the company soon.

Sudan produces 520,000 barrels of oil a day and about 12 percent of the country’s GDP comes from oil and gas.

The production would reach up to 1 million barrels a day over the next few years, Salam said.

France, Britain and some other countries say the Sudanese army and the janjaweed militias coordinate attacks that have killed hundreds of civilians in recent weeks alone.

The Sudanese government denied the allegations and blamed the janjaweed for the bulk of the looting, raping and killing in Darfur.

(Xinhua)