French minister confers with Sudanese president, ministers on ties

KHARTOUM, Jan 15 (AFP) — French Foreign Trade Minister Francois Loos had talks with Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir and a number of his ministers on the Sudan peace process and issues of bilateral cooperation on the first day of a two-day official visit to Khartoum.

“We discussed the process of peace on which the president has briefed me and on the situation in Sudan in general,” Loos told AFP after his meeting with Beshir in the latter’s office in the grounds of the Armed Forces General Command headquarters in the Sudanese capital.

He said he also discussed with Beshir ongoing French energy projects in Sudan, including an Alsthom electricity project at Merowe Dam, and oil projects.

Loos said he handed Beshir a message from President Jacques Chirac of congratulations on the progress in the Sudan peace negotiations in Kenya and pledging French support to all efforts exerted by Sudan in this respect.

Industry Minister Jalal Yousuf al-Digair, who attended the Beshir-Loos meeting, said the two men explored ways in which France could offer assistance in railway and electricity projects in Sudan.

After his meeting with Beshir, Loos had separate talks with Electricity Minister Ali Temim Fertak, Transport Minister Shaikh al-Sammani al-Waseilah and Foreign Trade Minister Abdel Hamid Mussa Kasha.

Loos, the first French minister to be in Sudan for several years, was due to attend the opening later Thursday of the annual international fair of Khartoum in which many French businessmen and companies are taking part for the first time.

Some 15 countries and about 600 companies from Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas are participating in the fair.