Sudanese president visits Belarus

MINSK, July 28 (AFP) — Belarus hopes to boost ties with Sudan with an eye to increasing industrial exports and playing a role in developing the African country’s oilfields, the foreign ministry said as Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir began a two-day visit to Minsk.

The ministry said in a statement that Belarus hopes to increase supplies of automobiles, trucks, industrial and energy equipment, metals and fertilizers.

Sudan officially estimates its oil reserves at more than 2 billion barrels, with 700 million barrels in proven reserves.

Al-Beshir arrived in Belarus late yesterday.

He is to meet with President Alyaksandr Lukashenka and Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky, and also to visit several companies.

International attention is focused on Sudan where pro-government militias have killed some 30,000 people in Darfur region and driven more than a million from their homes.

The UN is considering a U.S.-backed resolution calling for sanctions against Sudan if it does not stop the violence in Darfur.