Sudan’s FM discusses national dialogue with German officials

October 7, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s foreign minister Ibrahim Ghandour Wednesday has discussed with a visiting German diplomatic delegation the bilateral ties and the national dialogue process.

In a press released after the meeting, foreign ministry spokesperson Ali al-Sadiq said that the delegation stressed keenness to continue support for Sudan’s national dialogue, pointing they conveyed to Ghandour that they are closely following the latest developments of the peace process in the country.

According to al-Sadiq, the German officials expressed their support for the efforts exerted by the head of the African Union high Implementation Panel (AUHIP), Thabo Mbeki, and the Sudan troika, including the United States, United Kingdom and Norway to achieve peace in Sudan.

He added the delegation including the foreign ministry regional representative for the Sub-Saharan and Sahel, Gregor Schmidt, and the head of the East Africa and Madagascar division in Germany foreign ministry, Anke Feldhusen, stressed the need to create a conducive climate to ensure the success of the dialogue.

It is worth to mention that Germany had signed a strategic partnership agreement with the AU High Implementation Panel (AUHIP) by the end of 2014 allowing it to work with the Sudanese parties to facilitate a process aiming to bring peace and achieve democratic transformation in the east African country.

Thanks to the German efforts, Sudanese opposition holdout groups, in a meeting held in Berlin last February, declared their readiness to participate the national dialogue preparatory meeting despite their previous reserves .

Ghandour underscored that Sudan enjoys strong ties with Germany, saying that relations are based upon trust and transparency in dealing with Sudan’s important issues.

He praised the delegation’s keenness to follow the developments of the situation in Sudan, briefing them on the government efforts to achieve peace and stability.

Sudan’s top diplomat pointed to measures taken by the government to ensure the success of the national dialogue, mentioning attention given by Sudan to the humanitarian conditions.

He said that Sudan received thousands of the Syrian refugees, praising Germany for its continued support to Sudan in various stances.

(ST)