US special envoy to Sudan stops in Egypt
February 24, 2008 (CAIRO) — The US special envoy to Sudan Richard Williamson made an unannounced stop in Cairo to meet with Egyptian officials before heading to Khartoum.
The foreign ministry spokesperson Amr Zaki said that Aboul Gheit “was keen to meet with Williamson in the framework of continuous consultation between the US and Egypt about the issues facing Sudan”.
Aboul Gheit flew to Saudi Arabia after the meeting as part of the delegation led by the Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak to meet with King Abdullah.
Zaki said that Aboul Gheit told the US envoy that the “divisions with the Darfur rebel groups” is the main obstacle to peace in the region.
However Williamson told reporters after the meeting that “no progress can be made on the political front without addressing the humanitarian crisis in Darfur”.
“There are thousands of civilians living in villages who are scared of being attacked and there are also 3 million refugees who are living in dire humanitarian condition. Many of the Darfurians also die as a result of malnutrition” he added.
The US envoy also said that the crisis between Sudan and Chad is caused by rebel groups on both sides of the border. He further said that both countries want to stabilize their borders “because it is in their interest as well as other countries”.
The Egyptian government has generally been supportive of Khartoum’s position on the Darfur crisis. Last year Aboul Gheit has challenged the West to prove the numbers of deaths in Darfur in an interview with the daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat.
The US envoy was due to arrive in Khartoum today for the first time since his appointment last December. He is expected to meet with the Sudanese president Omar Hassan Al-Bashir and his Vice president Ali Osman Taha.
Williamson was supposed to arrive in Khartoum late January for meetings with Sudanese officials focused primarily on the Darfur crisis but the visit was postponed for unknown reasons.
Some sources speaking to Sudan Tribune at the time said the delay was due to “security measures being taken in Khartoum” without elaborating. However some US officials told Sudan Tribune that the special envoy sought the delay to meet with Deng Alor on his upcoming visit to Washington.
Sudanese officials have expressed pessimism with regard to Williamson and noted that his background makes him a “hardliner”.
The new US envoy has described the Sudanese regime as “thugs” who will “act like thugs as long as they are allowed to do so” in an August 2005 article in the Chicago-Sun Times.
In the article he wrote, Williamson said that “bilateral and multilateral action must be taken” against Khartoum.
But the former UN diplomat has maintained a low profile and avoided the media since he was tapped by Bush for the post In January.
It is expected that Williamson will call on Sudan to remove obstacles facing the deployment of the UN-AU hybrid force in Darfur and to halt recent military operations which resulted in the displacement of thousands of civilians.
International experts estimate 200,000 people have died in the conflict, which Washington calls genocide, a term European governments are reluctant to use. The Sudan government says 9,000 people have been killed.
(ST)