Sudan sends team to Paris over ICC warrant

KHARTOUM, Tuesday

Chief of Political Relations Committee of the National Congress Party (NCP), Dr Mandour Al-Mahdi, has said that a high-profile official delegation will leave for Paris on April 21 for talks with the French government on Darfur and the ICC warrant against President Omar al-Bashir.

Mr Al-Mahdi told Sudan Vision that the delegation includes Presidential Assistant, Dr Nafie Nafie, Presidential Adviser, Dr Mustafa Osman Ismail and Mr Abdel-Basit Sanoosi, Chief of Bilateral Relations Department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, besides other officials.

He said the delegation will meet with the French Foreign Minister, Mr Bernard Kouchner, and President Nicolas Sarkozy, Assistant Diplomatic Adviser, Bruno Joubert as well as the Elysee General Secretary, Mr Claude Guan.

Commenting on the visit, the prominent NCP figure, Mr Mandour, branded the trip as critical as France is a UN Security Council member known to have strained its relations with Sudan during the ICC row.

Of notice, Paris hosts the chairman of Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) Abdel-Wahid Al-Nur who refuses to join the ongoing peace talks, so Khartoum demands Paris to put pressure on Al-Nur to enter into peace negotiations with Sudan government.

London- based Al-Sharq Al-Awsat Arabic Daily, reported that, upon a Saudi request, Mr Kouchner had met briefly in Jeddah with a Sudanese delegation that included VP Ali Osman Mohamed Taha and Dr Mustafa Osman Ismail.

Sudan has conducted extensive dialogue with the France since the ICC arrest warrant. France has made suggestions that under certain conditions it may support a UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution deferring indictment of President Al Bashir. (Suna)