Egypt remains “strong opponent” of sanctions against Sudan: official
CAIRO, Dec 12, 2004 (MENA) — An Egyptian-Sudanese summit here on Sunday focused on bilateral relations and political issues, Egyptian Presidential Spokesman Ambassador Majid Abd-al-Fattah told the press.
On the bilateral relations front, President Hosni Mubarak and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir discussed the progress made in implementing the four freedoms agreement, effective since September in the two countries, he said.
They agreed on activating its implementation in its four spheres, namely the freedoms of labour, movement, ownership and residence, through the holding of joint technical committee meetings, the latest of which was held in Cairo 8-22 September, he added. He said more meetings will be held in January to follow up its implementation.
The two sides also probed the holding of higher joint committee meetings to enhance cooperation in the areas of education, higher education, culture, health and social affairs, he added.
Al-Bashir paid a brief visit to Egypt Sunday for talks with Mubarak.
Abd-al-Fattah said the two sides reviewed implementation of six memos of understanding on the return of educational missions and cooperation in the fields of industry, health and meat exports.
He said that an agreement was reached between Mubarak and Al-Bashir on holding the fourth session of the Egyptian-Sudanese higher committee in Cairo in the first quarter of next year.
The spokesman said that the talks also dealt with means to promote trade cooperation between the two countries. He said the two sides discussed means to boost trade cooperation which required more linkage in the fields of communications as the main communication cable, which links the two countries with all world satellites, was connected .
Abd-al-Fattah said that work was intensified to complete the road linking Egypt with Sudan, adding that a stretch of some 218 kilometres of the road was yet to be completed.
Abd-al-Fattah said that the Egyptian-Sudanese talks also dealt with means to activate linkage between the two countries in the fields of railways, which suffer from some problems such as differences in the kind of railways.
The spokesman said that the volume of trade exchange between the two countries reached 165m dollars in 2003, adding that there was a possibility of upping it.
He said that the talks dealt with an agreement on boosting cooperation in COMESA (Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa) and promoting trilateral cooperation between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan through activating cooperation among the private sectors in the three countries in the political and economic domains.
The spokesman said Egypt has been supporting negotiations between north and south Sudan and hopes for accelerating them as soon as possible.
Abd-al-Fattah pointed out to progress in reconciliation efforts among Darfur tribes, especially after convincing the tribes of the dire consequences of differences and clashes.
The spokesman said Egypt, Libya and other countries that took part in a Libya summit on Darfur intensified contacts with opposition powers Darfur to reach a comprehensive solution to the crisis. The spokesman said Egypt has been exerting maximum efforts to solve Darfur crisis through establishing an infrastructure and roads in the war-torn region.
On Egypt’s stance towards imposing sanctions on Sudan, the spokesman said that Egypt remained a strong opponent of such sanctions.