Arab League opens new office in South Sudan

Feb 24, 2007 (CAIRO) — The Arab League (AL) Administrative and Financial Standing Committee on Saturday approved the appointment of Mohamed Munsef Amin Murad as head of the AL mission in the southern Sudan for a four-year mandate.

The appointment is aimed at “coordinating the Arab assistance and contribution in the implementation of a comprehensive peace accord between north and south Sudan,” an official source at the AL told the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).

Murad had previously worked at the Egyptian Foreign Ministry as well as Egyptian embassies in Sudan, Somalia and Djibouti.

A final statement issued at last year’s Arab Summit in Khartoum had recommended that an AL office in Juba should open as soon as possible.

“Now that the head of the AL office has been selected, all that remains is for the location of the office to be found as a prelude to opening it as soon as possible,” the source said.

The AL had held several meetings with representatives of Arab investment funds willing to launch development projects in southern Sudan. The initial cost of projects of development to be financed by Arab countries and funds exceeds two USD billions.

(KUNA)