Czech FM highlights importance of Sudan’s stability

KHARTOUM, Dec 4, 2004 (Xinhua) — Cyril Svoboda, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, stressed here Saturday the importance of Sudan’s unity and stability, the Sudanese News Agency (SUNA) reported.

Svoboda, who arrived here Friday on a three-day visit, made the remarks after talks with his Sudanese counterpart Mustafa Othman Ismail.

The Czech official welcomed the peace agreements which the Sudanese government signed with the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) and the Darfur rebels.

He called for more efforts by the Sudanese government in the fields of human rights and democracy.

The top Czech diplomat also pledged to encourage more Czech companies to invest in Sudan, especially in the fields of seeds, mining and agriculture.

Ismail, for his part, briefed his Czech counterpart on the situations in Darfur in the country’s west, appreciating the economic support of 416,000 US dollars Czech has provided to Darfur.

He reaffirmed the government’s keenness to finalize the peace process by the end of this year in accordance with the government’s commitment to the declaration it made with the SPLM/A at the UN Security Council’s special session held recently in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi.

During the talks between the two foreign ministers, they also agreed to form permanent diplomatic representations in the two countries’ capitals to sustain the bilateral relations, said the SUNA.