US Congress wants Sudanese talks to be held in Washington – paper

by London based Al-Hayat daily newspaper

ASMARA, Jan 26, 2004 — US officials have asked for the Sudanese peace talks to be moved from Kenya to Washington, so that extra pressure can be exerted to make negotiations succeed.

The officials expressed their concern that talks might collapse.

The [London based] newspaper Al-Hayat learnt from diplomatic sources that the US administration was concerned that the peace process might fail, despite the noticeable progress achieved in a number of issues.

Al-Hayyat obtained a copy of the message sent by US Senator Frank Wolf to US President George Bush .

In the letter, Wolf wrote that “The chances for peace in Sudan will decrease if we do not intervene in this critical stage”.

It was learnt that the suggestion was made for the talks to be held in Washington and completed under the direct US supervision.

BBC Monitoring Middle East