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Sudan Tribune

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Sudan’s stance on Syria chimes with Arab League consensus

August 28, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan has affirmed the conformity of its position towards the Syria’s reaction to anti-government protests with the Arab League’s consensus, the country’s foreign minister said on Sunday, quelling earlier reports of Khartoum’s dissent.

At top Syrian President Bashar Assad, right, talks to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Prime Minister of United Arab Emirates, as Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, left, talks to Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika during a group picturte with Arab leader in Sirte, Libya, Saturday, Oct. 9, 2010 (AP PHOTOS)
At top Syrian President Bashar Assad, right, talks to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Prime Minister of United Arab Emirates, as Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, left, talks to Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika during a group picturte with Arab leader in Sirte, Libya, Saturday, Oct. 9, 2010 (AP PHOTOS)
Foreign ministers of the 22-member Arab League met over the weekend in Cairo and issued a statement expressing concern over the violent events in Syria and calling on Damascus to end the “spilling of blood” and “resort to reason.”

According to UN figures, more than 2,200 people have been killed in Syria as Bashar al-Assad’s government cracked down on protestors demanding his ouster.

The Arab League decided to dispatch its chief Nabil al-Arabi to Damascus with an “initiative” to defuse the burgeoning crisis.

Syria reacted angrily to the statement, condemning it as a “clear violation of the principles of the Arab League charter and of the foundations of joint Arab action.”

“Sudan has no objection to the Arab position announced by the Arab League’s ministerial meeting towards the events in Syria and the decision to send the Arab League’s chief to Damascus” the Sudanese foreign minister Ali Karti announced on Sunday.

Karti’s announcement follows reports that he walked out of the Arab League’s meeting in expression of Khartoum’s dissent with the statement.

However, the Sudanese minister dismissed the reports, saying that he left the meeting after he informed the Arab League’s Secretary-General of his departure when the statement was in the stage of final drafting.

Similarly in Khartoum, the official spokesman of Sudan’s foreign ministry denied that his boss withdrew from the meeting over objections to the statement.

The spokesman, Al-Ubayd Moroah, said that a position similar to that of the Arab League was conveyed by president Al-Bashir to his counterpart Al-Assad through a special envoy at the beginning of the crisis.

(ST)

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