EU to sign an agreement on resumption of developmental assistance to Sudan

KHARTOUM, July 3, 2004 (SUNA) — The European Union Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Affairs, Mr. Paul Nelson, is due to arrive here Saturday to sign an agreement on resumption of developmental assistance to Sudan.

The commissioner met Sudan’s Ambassador to Belgium Dr. Ali Yosuf Ahmed, who briefed him on the situations in Darfur States, refuting unfounded claims of ethnic cleansing in Darfur and attributing the problem to poverty and suspension of development assistance.

Dr. Ysouf further briefed the European official on the six peace protocols signed between the government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) in Nairobi, Kenya, to end the war in the South.

SUNA learnt that the European Commissioner has signed an agreement, presenting some 10 million Euros from the EU’s Fund for peace in Africa to the African Union’s Commission for monitoring the cease-fire agreement in Darfur.