Egypt’s Mubarak hold talks on Darfur and South Sudan peace
November 10, 2008 (KHARTOUM/JUBA) — Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was today in one-day visit to Khartoum and Juba where he held talks on Darfur peace efforts and the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed in 2005.
This is the second visit of Mubarak to Khartoum since 1989. He was in the Sudanese capital on April 4, 2006. As like the first one he made a short visit to the country. The current ruling party in Khartoum has been behind a 1995 assassination attempt in Addis Ababa.
This is also the first visit to southern Sudan of an Egyptian president since 1962 where president Jamal Abdel Nasser visited Juba.
Speaking to the press following a meeting this morning with president Omer Al-Bashir, Mubarak said he tackled Darfur issue and Sudan’s unity. He also said bilateral ties where part of the talks.
Mubarak also briefed the Sudanese president on Egyptian efforts to convince Darfur rebel Justice and Equality Movement to join the Qatari mediation initiated by the Arab League last September.
President Omer Al-Bashir was briefed on Monday with the efforts of the Egyptian government to convince Khalil Ibrahim, the leader of the rebel Justice and Equality Movement in Darfur to return to the negotiations table, the official SUNA reported.
Foreign Minister Deng Alor said that Al-Bashir lauded Egypt’s efforts to convince the armed movements in Darfur to take part in the coming session of negotiations in Doha, Qatar.
Al-Bashir briefed his Egyptian counterpart on the situation in Darfur as well as the progress of the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in southern Sudan besides the preparations for holding the coming general elections next year.
The visiting Mubarak also said that “President Al- Bashir is well aware of the importance of the unity of the Sudanese territories and supporting the south.”
Alor said the visit of the Egyptian President to Juba came as part of the Egyptian efforts to push forward development in southern Sudan that would make the option of unity attractive for the southern Sudanese people.
In Juba Mubarak had talks with the First Vice President and southern Sudan government president Salva Kiir Mayadrit on the implementation of a peace deal that Egypt is one of its international guarantors.
Salava Kiir briefed Mubarak on the implementation of the CPA and urged more pressures on Khartoum, Kiir press secretary Ayom Wol said following the meeting.
Mubarak told reporters: “I came to Juba for the first time and it gives you an indication that we are concerned about southern Sudan.” He said his government would set up a branch of Egypt’s Alexandria University in the southern.
Egypt’s official MENA news agency said Mubarak’s visit was “aimed at cementing stability and unity in Sudan”.
Egypt is dependent on the Nile for its water needs. The White Nile, which flows through southern Sudan, provides about 10 percent of the total flow and could provide more if the water management system is improved.
The construction of Jonglei canal is one of the main concerns for Cairo which tries to convince Juba to resume the work on the hydro-construction project. The unpopular canal project was put to a halt in 1983 following the outbreak of the North-South civil war.
The purpose of the canal was to ensure the flow of 4.7 billion cubic meters of water annually, to be equally distributed between Egypt and Sudan.
(ST)