South African president visits Darfur

KHARTOUM, Jan 1 (AFP) — Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir accompanied his South African counterpart Thabo Mbeki on a lightning visit to the troubled western region of Darfur Saturday, his office said.

South African President Thabo Mbeki addresses after the signing ceremony between the Sudanese government and southern rebels in Naivasha, 90 km (55 miles) west of Kenya’s capital Nairobi, December 31, 2004. (Reuters) .

The trip came just a day after the two leaders attended the signing in Kenya of a landmark agreement paving the way for an end to the two-decade-old conflict in southern Sudan.

The breakthrough in ending the war in the south has prompted calls for renewed efforts to end the 22-month-old conflict in Darfur.

South Africa, which currently chairs an African Union committee on rebuilding Sudan, has military observers on the ground in Darfur, monitoring a fragile truce between the Arab-dominated government and ethnic minority rebels.

Welcoming Friday’s peace breakthrough between Khartoum and the southern rebels, US Secretary of State Colin Powell urged fresh efforts for peace in Darfur, saying the two conflicts were “inextricably linked”.

“There are two tracks, but they must lead to the same point — peace, stability, and prosperity for all of the people of Sudan,” he said.

Beshir and Mbeki were due back in Khartoum later Saturday for a parliamentary address by the Sudanese president marking the 49th anniversary of independence from Britain.