Top Pakistani foreign ministry official leaves for Sudan

ISLAMABAD, Aug 02, 2004 (AP) — Pakistan’s top foreign ministry official left for Sudan on Monday where he will hold talks with the country’s president and deliver a message from President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, a government statement said.

Musharraf in recent weeks has contacted many world leaders to discuss how to resolve the humanitarian crisis in Sudan’s Darfur region.

Foreign ministry official Riaz Khokhar left for Sudan three days after the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution, giving Sudan 30 days to disarm Arab militias, blamed for the deaths of thousands in Darfur, or face diplomatic and economic penalties.

Pakistan abstained from the vote on Sudan, however, and officials say Islamabad did so to remain “neutral.” Pakistan and Sudan enjoy close relations.

Khokhar will call on Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir during his visit and deliver a message from Musharraf, the foreign ministry statement said.

An estimated 30,000 people have been killed in the 17-month conflict; 1 million people have been forced to flee their homes; and an estimated 2.2 million people are in urgent need of food, medicine and other basics.

International aid organizations have blamed el-Bashir’s government of supporting the Arab militias, known as Janjaweed, who launched attacks against Sudanese citizens of African origin to drive them out of Darfur.