US and Sudan agree on a roadmap to improve bilateral relations

February 2, 2011 (KHARTOUM) — American administration and the Sudanese government have agreed on a roadmap to improve bilateral relations, said the visiting U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wednesday after a meeting with the Sudanese Vice-President.

Flanked by Scott Gration US President Special Envoy to Sudan, James B. Steinberg held a series of meetings with several Sudanese officials in Khartoum including Vice President Ali Osman Taha, Presidential Assistant Nafei Ali Nafei, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Karti and Presidential Adviser for Security Affairs, Salah Gosh.

Steinberg’s visit takes place as Karti has just returned from Washington where he met with the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to discuss the left of economic sanctions but also Sudan’s removal from the U.S. list of countries sponsoring terrorism.

After the run of a successful referendum, Obama’s administration seeks to achieve successfully agreements on outstanding and post referendum issues before the proclamation of a new state in southern Sudan next July.

We “agreed on a roadmap between the two countries to serve to common interest,” Steinberg told reporters after a meeting with the vie-president Ali Osman Taha. He further said that his first visit to Khartoum aims to continue dialogue with the Sudanese officials on the pending issues in the implementation of the Comprehensive peace Agreement (CPA) and Darfur conflict.

The U.S. official expressed his appreciation to the Government of Sudan for its commitment to hold the southern Sudan referendum timely and the recognition of its outcome in favor of secession.

Sudanese foreign minister Ali Karti Wednesday briefed President Omer Al-Bashir on his recent visit to the United States and the discussions held with the American officials.

Speaking to the media, Karti stated that his talks in Washington focused on the need to lift Sudan from the list of states sponsoring terrorism and the removal of economic sanctions. He further ruled any linkage between the Darfur conflict and the lift of sanctions.

Following his meeting with Steinberg, Nafei Ali Nafei told reporters that the United States of America are ready to open a new page with the Sudan and contribute to resolve the outstanding issues in the CPA implementation and the Darfur conflict.

For his part, presidential adviser Salah Gosh called on the US to comply with its commitments towards his government stressing “We see no reason for keeping Sudan in the list of state sponsors of terrorism or maintaining the economic sanctions”.

Commenting on the US policy towards Sudan on Tuesday, Gosh who was seen as the man of Washington in Khartoum, said the United States of America still intends to topple down the Sudanese regime. “However they will continue to pursue a policy of appeasement – as it was the case during the interim period — in order to complete the CPA implementation and the separation of the South, which represents the only achievement of U.S. foreign policy,” he said.

The former head of the intelligence service went on saying that the U.S. administration tends to change his government gradually rather than targeting it directly. He pointed out that pressure groups in Washington and Sudanese opposition forces push for the second option.

(ST)