NEW YORK: Sudan’s UN ambassador said yesterday that Khartoum was ready for constructive talks with a new US special envoy, adding that he hoped Washington was prepared to reciprocate.
“Sudan wants constructive engagement and normal dealings with the US,” Sudanese Ambassador Abdalmahmoud Abdalhaleem said.
“We are ready for dialogue and cooperation,” he said. “We hope the US will reciprocate.” As the humanitarian crisis in Sudan’s western Darfur region worsens, US President Barack Obama is expected to announce the appointment of retired Air Force General Scott Gration as his special envoy to Sudan, a US official said on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, a defiant Sudanese President Omar Bashir called on yesterday for Darfur rebels to lay down their arms, during a visit to the conflict-ravaged region where he stands accused of war crimes.
Vowing to develop the region that has been prey to six years of conflict and decades of neglect, Bashir addressed thousands of jubilant militiamen two weeks after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest.
“Our response (to the ICC) is to bring electricity to Darfur, more buildings, schools, water, more hospitals. We want a reunification of the people of Darfur.” “It’s not the US or Britain who chooses the president of Sudan but the Sudanese people,” Bashir thundered against two states he sees as the driving force behind his arrest warrant.
“We want to reunify the people of Darfur and we call on all our sons and brothers who bear arms to put them down,” Bashir said on his second visit to Darfur since the warrant was issued.
