Sudan-Egypt talks end with agreements, calls for peace

KHARTOUM, July 20, 2003 (dpa) — Officials from Sudan and Egypt ended bilateral talks Sunday, announcing agreements between their two countries and delivering statements on Middle East issues.

The talks, that included discussions on efforts to reach a peace agreement between the government of Sudan and rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army, resulted in a joint pledge by Sudanese-Egyptian officials to achieve equality among the peoples of Sudan and reach a comprehensive political compromise.

The third round of Sudanese-Egyptian Higher Commission talks led to the signing of 19 agreements in the fields of economics, construction, trade and information.

They included an agreement on establishing a Sudanese-Egyptian joint banking venture with 100 million dollars as capital. Details of the project were not divulged.

The two countries also called on U.S.-led forces “occupying Iraq” to withdraw immediately and hand over management of domestic political affairs to the Iraqi people.

Egyptian and Sudanese officials, while calling for a demilitarized Middle East, urged the Israeli government to adhere to the U.S.- backed road map peace plan and to allow the establishment of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital.