French FM to visit Chad and Sudan this week

‏PARIS, Feb 17, 2004 (KUNA) — French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin will ‏‏pay a three-day visit to Chad and Sudan from February 19-21 to discuss the ‏‏regional situation and the ongoing conflict in the Darfour region that borders ‏‏the two countries, official sources said.‏
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After initial talks with authorities in Chad, and a visit to the Forchana ‏refugee camp where thousands of refugees from Darfour in Sudan have taken up ‏‏residence, de Villepin will head to Khartoum to meet with his Sudanese ‏counterpart Mustafa Othman Ismail.

‏Talks between the French Minister and President Omar Al-Bashir are also ‏scheduled.‏
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Among issues to be discussed are the major regional problems like the ‏border conflict opposing Ethiopia and Eritrea, the question of Somalia, and ‏‏the problems around the Great Lakes, among others.‏

‏Arab issues like the Middle East conflict and Iraq are also on the agenda ‏‏for the talks, as are bilateral questions and the latest developments in the ‏‏peace process underway in Sudan.