Japan donates over 670,000 dollars to demine Sudan’s Nuba Mountains

KHARTOUM, March 25 (AFP) — Japan agreed to donate over 670,000 dollars to help de-mine Sudan’s central Nuba Mountains in the wake of two decades of civil war in the country, the Japanese embassy said.

The money will set up a new, fully equipped de-mining facility, as well as train locals in mine clearance and demarking landmines, the embassy said in a statement faxed to AFP.

Mines will be cleared from regions controlled by both Khartoum government forces and southern rebels.

Peace talks underway between Khartoum and the Southern People’s Liberation Army (PLA) rebels in Kenya are seeking to solve a 21-year conflict that has killed 1.5 million people and displaced four million.

The agreement was signed by Japan’s ambassador to Khartoum and the director of London-based watchdog Landmine Action (Sudan) in the presence of Sudanese Humanitarian Affairs Minister Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid, the embassy said.