Sudan welcomes new US charge d’affaires

June 7, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — The Sudanese government expressed Thursday its welcome to the new U.S. charge d’affaires to Sudan, hoping that the appointment would pose a real boost to the relations between the two countries.

Sudanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ali Al-Sadig voiced the welcome in a statement on the occasion of U.S. Charge d’Affaires Alberto M. Fernandez’s arrival in Khartoum.

The statement called on the new U.S. envoy “to convince his government about the positive steps which are being adopted by Sudan government, besides its seriousness to solve the Darfur issue and to cooperate with the international community, especially the United States”.

The Sudanese government has done its best toward normalization of its relations with the United States in a manner that would serve the interest of the two countries, said the statement.

It, however, noted that all the efforts exerted by Sudan in this regard had failed because “any initiative put forward by Sudan was met with opposite response from the side of the US administration”.

The major challenge facing the new American charge d’affaires was the fact that what had been alleged by the U.S. administration against Sudan was not in conformity with the reality, Al-Sadig said in the statement.

“The United States has not given attention to all the efforts exerted by Sudan, but continued to adopt the method of escalation and the threatening with sanctions against Sudan,” said the spokesman.

Upon his arrival in Khartoum on Wednesday, the U.S. charge d’ affaires disclosed in a statement issued by the U.S. Embassy that he had been in the African country for 15 years.

“I had always dreamed of returning and having an opportunity to work in the service of a better understanding between the American and the Sudanese people,” Fernandez said.

(Xinhua)