US State Dept number 2 plans talks with Sudan govt, rebels

KHARTOUM, Sudan, Apr 14, 2005 (AP) — U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick arrived in Sudan Thursday, aiming to keep the spotlight firmly on its humanitarian crisis – and the pressure on its officials to end strife in troubled western Darfur.

US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick.(AFP).

Zoellick was meeting with Sudan ‘s first vice president, Ali Osman Mohammed Taha, in Khartoum and planned talks a day later with opposition leader John Garang in Rumbeck, the southern headquarters of rebels who challenged the Khartoum-based government during a two-decade-long civil war.

In January, Taha and Garang brokered a peace agreement to formally end the war and create a new government in Africa’s largest country.

On Friday, Zoellick will travel to Darfur. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell has called the atrocities in Darfur genocide, and the U.N. has handed prosecutors from the International Criminal Court a list of 51 people to investigate for war crimes.

Earlier this week, Zoellick promised more than $1.7 billion in U.S. aid, mostly for southern Sudan . But he said Sudanese leaders must make progress in stopping bloodshed in Darfur to ensure future financial support.

The U.S. pledge came during a 60-nation conference in Oslo, Norway, in which countries committed to give $4.5 billion over the next two years to cover Sudan ‘s humanitarian and reconstruction needs.