AL chief stresses need to prevent sanctions against Sudan

CAIRO, July 27, 2004 (Xinhua) — Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa here on Tuesday stressed the need to prevent sanctions against Sudan due to the Darfur crisis.

Moussa made the remarks during a joint news conference after meeting with visiting Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos who arrived here Monday night for two-day visit to Egypt, Egypt’s official MENA news agency reported.

“We need to help the Sudanese government and don’t want to talk about sanctions,” said the AL chief.

He affirmed the importance of focusing on the humanitarian dimension, saying there was a lot of exaggeration with regard to the situation in Darfur.

Moussa, meanwhile, noted that his talks with Moratinos addressed the situation in the Middle East, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, as well as the latest developments in Iraq and Sudan.

For his part, Moratinos said Madrid will assist and encourage Khartoum to facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid into the violence-ridden western Darfur region.

Spain will preside over the UN Security Council in September and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the situation in Iraq and Darfur will come high on the agenda, he added.

The Spanish foreign minister welcomed the Palestinian National Authority’s (PNA) readiness to cooperate with regard to the implementation of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan on withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

On the Iraq issue, Moratinos said his country, which had withdrawn its troops from Iraq, is committed to the help it pledged to offer during the conference of donor countries.