Sudanese officials visit US amid high expectations

By Wasil Ali

August 27, 2007 (WASHINGTON) — Sudan’s state minister for foreign affairs, Mohamed Al-Samani Al-Wasiyla arrived in the Washington for talks with US officials that are likely to be dominated by the issue of Darfur.

Sudanese press reports said that Al-Wasiyla received an invitation from the US administration which raised hopes that strained relations between the two countries could be normalized.

However Tom Casey, Deputy Spokesman for the US State Department said that Khartoum “requested that he [Al-Wasiyla] be allowed to travel here to meet with U.S. officials”.

Al-Wasiyla was due to meet the US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer. It is not clear if he had other senior US officials on his agenda.

A State Department official speaking to Sudan Tribune on condition of anonymity said that talks in Khartoum about normalizing ties and upgrading diplomatic representation was “overstretched”.

U.S. President George W. Bush ordered new economic sanctions against Sudan late May to pressure Khartoum to halt the bloodshed in Darfur.

The US closed its embassy in Khartoum in 1996 and has imposed numerous sanctions on Sudan since 1989. The US embassy resumed its activities in 2000 with a charge d’affaires in place ever since.

(ST)