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SCIO Sudan Monthly Report Aug 2001


1. Chronology
August 15: President Omar el-Bashir has urged the organs of the ruling National Congress (NC) party to work to unite the people of the Sudan by increasing the party's membership, reported the official Sudan News Agency (SUNA). Addressing the party's Social Sector, Bashir said that his Islamic regime is a revolution of social change.

15: The visiting Deputy Director of the News Agency of the United Arab Emirates (WAM), Ali Amir Al-Mishgari, held talks with the Acting General Manager of SUNA, Bakri Mulah, at the Khartoum headquarters of SUNA. The talks focused on the exchange of news, information and experiences between the two news agencies.

15: Sudan has called on all the Somali parties to adhere to the method of dialogue and keep away from fighting, reported SUNA. A statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the situation in Somalia said that Sudan was concerned about the deteriorating security situation especially in central and southern parts of Somalia.

15: Sudan's Minister of National Defence Maj. Gen. Bakri Hassan Salih has expressed the determination of the country's armed forces to persevere the challenges facing them during the country's civil war. He said this in an address at celebrations held in Khartoum on the occasion of the 47th anniversary of the Armed Forces' Day.

15: Sudan's Foreign Minister, Mustafa Ismail, has sent a congratulatory cable to James Wmabogu on his appointment as Uganda's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, reported SUNA. Ismail expressed his desire to work together with Wmabogu to boost and normalise relations between the two countries.

15: The leader of the opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has reiterated support for the Egyptian-Libyan peace initiative. During a meeting with Secretary General of the ruling NC party Ibrahim Ahmad Omar, Osman Mirghani said that the conditions set by the SPLA, on taking part in dialogue with the government are not binding to his United Democratic Party (UDP).

16: Three people were reported to have died in Nile floods near Khartoum as heavy rains left large parts of the country under water and the Nile continued to rise to dangerous levels. The three downed in Omdurman. Three people died when the heavy rains first hit Khartoum in early August.

16: President Bashir has urged Sudanese men to take more than one wife in order to double the country's population of 30 million. The Sudanese should ignore international family planning policies, Bashir said in a speech to the ruling NC party. He said Sudan needed more people for development, since it is Africa's biggest country and rich in resources.

16: Kenyan importers of the controversial 2,000 tonnes of Sudanese diesel want a refund of US$76,923 duty paid to the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA). Bahriya Petroleum Ltd is further demanding to be paid US$115,385 as demurrage, special and punitive damages. The firm has warned that if the money is not refunded within 30 days, KRA could face legal action.

16: President Bashir was to leave Khartoum for the Ugandan capital of Kampala to attend an economic summit, scheduled to begin on August 18, reported SUNA. He was to be accompanied by Presidential Advisor Badr-Eddin Suleiman, Finance and National Economy Minister Abdel-Rahim Hamdi and State Minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Chol Deng.

16: The Undersecretary of the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Awdal-Karim Fadlallah, received at his office the Turkish Ambassador to Sudan, reported SUNA. The meeting discussed means of boosting the bilateral relations between the two countries. They also discussed an expected visit by 170 Turkish businessmen to Sudan at the end of August and preparations of a Turkish exhibition in Khartoum in October.

16: Sudan's Information and Communications Minister, Mahdi Ibrahim attended an extraordinary meeting of the Council of the Arab information ministers held at the premises of General Secretariat of the Arab League in Cairo. The Council approved an executive plan on providing political and media support to the Palestinians.

16: The Chairman of the Political Sector at the ruling NC party, Ghazi Salah-Eddin, said that the party is planning to effect an integrated political and social movement, reported SUNA. Ghazi said that the movement would seek to deal with the requirements of realising peace in the country.

16: Sudan's State Minister for Finance and National Economy, Hassan Ahmed Taha attended a meeting of the General Assembly of the Bank of the Community of Sahel and Sahara States. The meeting was also attended by his counterparts from Mali, Chad, Libya and Burkina Faso, besides representatives and observers of other member states of the community. The meeting discussed a draft document on foundation of the community's Bank.

16: Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmad Mahir met with visiting Sudanese Minister of Information Mahdi Ibrahim and discussed the Egyptian-Libyan peace initiative on reconciliation in Sudan, reported the Middle East News Agency (MENA). Mahir dismissed allegations that the SPLA had rejected the initiative.

17: Floodwaters of the Nile continued to rise steadily in Sudan and Khartoum residents were preparing for the swollen river to burst its banks within days, reported Reuters. The river has already reached its highest level in more than 20 years, prompting tens of thousands of people to flee their homes in other parts of Sudan.

17: A Sudanese student was killed and 16 injured in clashes between students of rival political parties at Gezira University, 185 kilometres south of Khartoum. During the incidence two university offices were set ablaze so were two vehicles before police intervened. The incident was sparked when non-Gezira students, allied to the ruling party, interrupted a political debate organised by local students loyal to the opposition DUP.

17: The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has suggested that Egypt, Equatorial Guinea and Sudan would join the international oil cartel as observers, said Venezuela's Energy and Mining Minister Alvaro Silva. Venezuela has proposed that the group of observers should participate not only in ordinary meetings but in extraordinary meetings as well.

17: South Sudanese politicians affiliated with the ruling party have called on the government to honour commitments to the south, including a referendum on self-determination. The officials, who included ministers and provincial governors, called for respect for the principles of self-determination and sharing of national wealth as set out in an agreement signed in 1997 with Khartoum.

17: Unusually heavy rains in Ethiopia will continue to swell the Blue Nile and prolong flooding of the river on its course through neighbouring Sudan well into September, meteorologists said. Rains in Ethiopia, where the Blue Nile rises, have been 25 percent heavier than normal this year, causing the river and its tributaries to swell to abnormal levels as it flows into Sudan.

17: Sudanese Catholic and Episcopal Bishops have appealed to the warring parties to immediately cease hostilities and establish a just and durable peace in the country. In the appeal issued at the end of a weeklong meeting in Nairobi the clerics pointed that the war had left more than 96 percent of the country's 30 million people living below the poverty line.

18: A Sudanese court has sentenced two bandits to death for murdering a man during an armed robbery on a remote road in western Sudan. Adam Eisa Ali and Dhahiyah Suleiman Musbil were found guilty of premeditated murder, wounding two other men and looting US$140 in an attack on the road from Nyala to Kas last year, the independent Al-Ayam daily newspaper said.

18: Presidential Adviser on Peace Affairs Ghazi Salah Eddin has reiterated that the Sudanese government has unconditionally accepted the Egyptian-Libyan peace initiative. According to a press release issued by the Sudanese Embassy in Nigeria, Ghazi was quoted as saying that the government is ready to embrace dialogue in order to end the war.

18: Ninety-nine inhabited islands on the River Nile in northern Sudan have been evacuated under threat of rising waters, leaving about 1,000 families without shelter, a newspaper reported. Those evacuated were living in the open as the overflowing waters continued to encircle Abu Hamad town in Northern State, the daily Al-Ayam reported.

18: Sudan warned of an imminent explosion in the Middle East due to Israeli practices against the Palestinians and the world's failure to stop them. "The current conflict threatens the region with a new explosion due to the grave Israeli excesses and the world's silence in addition to the full US alignment with Israel," said Information Minister, Mahdi Ibrahim.

18: Presidential Adviser, Ghazi Salah Eddin has denied allegations of a controversy between the Sudan and Nigeria towards convening the Afro-Arab summit for peace in the Sudan, saying that consultations are underway to determine the issues to be discussed.

19: The SPLA claimed that its forces had captured a government riverboat and four smaller vessels in an ambush on a tributary of the Nile. A spokesman for the group, Yasser Arman, said the forces attacked the convoy on the Bahr el-Jabal river near Wang Kai, which lies 40 km upstream from Bentiu, the capital of the oil-rich Unity State.

19: President Bashir has told African leaders that the continent has to have political stability if it is to attract foreign investment. He was speaking to six African presidents and three prime ministers who had gathered in Kampala to brainstorm with the help of Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed on how to attract vital foreign investment to the continent.

19: Sudan's armed forces claimed to have killed 15 rebels in the Nuba Mountains, forcing the rest of the attackers to flee, SUNA reported. Armed forces spokesman General Mohammed Bashir Suleiman claimed that the army had inflicted "heavy losses" on the rebels, capturing a large amount of weapons and ammunition after the rebels attacked the Dara locality.

20: Former Sudanese Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi has urged the Egyptian and Libyan co-sponsors of a peace initiative for Sudan to support self-determination for the country's southerners. Mahdi, leader of the opposition UMMA party said refusing to allow south Sudan to decide its future would only harden opposition to unity with the north.

20: President Bashir met with his Ugandan counterpart, Yoweri Museveni for talks on further improving their relations, an official statement said. The statement gave few details about the meeting held in Kampala, but quoted Bashir as "looking forward to receiving Uganda's charge d'affaires to Sudan."

20: Nairobi's Catholic Archbishop Ndingi Mwana a'Nzeki has urged African governments to help Sudan exploit its massive resources for the promotion of peace and development instead of war. The Primate, who was conducting a special service for Sudanese refugees in Nairobi, asked the Sudanese to remain steadfast in their quest for peace and justice.

20: President Bashir has said that Sudan stopped giving ammunition and logistical support to Ugandan rebels following the 1999 signing of a pact to normalise relations. Speaking during a visit in Uganda, Bashir urged Kampala to also cut links with the SPLA.

21: The SPLA reported that its forces in Panaru, Western Upper Nile attacked and destroyed a huge convoy at the oil concession area. The attack is reported to have occurred on August 9 and left 42 government soldiers dead.

21: The SPLA has released details of the August 5 attack on the headquarters of the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company (GNPOC), the consortium coordinating oil exploration in Western Upper Nile. The group said that during the attack its forces destroyed a helicopter, five fuel reservoirs and the main electric power station plunging Bentiu Town into darkness.

21: The River Nile's annual flooding, which has left thousands of Sudanese people homeless will not seriously affect Egypt, the country's Water Resources Minister Mahmoud Abu-Zeid said. "We reassure everybody that floods no longer represent any danger to Egypt ever since the building of the High Dam," said Abu-Zeid.

21: US counter-terrorism analysts have concluded the terrorists involved in a 1995 assassination plot against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak no longer enjoy the protection of Sudan, a Bush administration official has said. However, the U.S. experts are still trying to determine if Sudan has ended its support for terrorism generally.

21: US Secretary of State Colin Powell is pondering a decision whether or not to support an Egyptian move in the United Nations to lift restrictions on foreign travel by Sudanese officials, said a US official. The UN sanctions were imposed in 1996 to force Sudan to hand over the gunmen who tried to assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak while he was visiting Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in June 1995.

21: A joint team of experts from the Sudanese government, UN relief agencies and NGOs left Khartoum for the central Sudan Sennar State, to assess the situation after days of heavy rains and storms, SUNA reported. Another team is expected to leave by helicopter to the northern flood-hit River Nile State, to assess the needed relief prior to an appeal for assistance, the agency quoted the government Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) as saying.

21: SUNA reported that Khartoum has offered the state 5,000 bags of 100 kilogrammes each of wheat to people displaced by the flooded River Nile. The agency also quoted the Kuwaiti charge d'affaires in Khartoum, Fahd Ahmed al-Awadhi, as saying Kuwait will fly a humanitarian air bridge for the relief of the people affected by the floods. He said a first plane would arrive in Khartoum on August 21 and a second on August 25, carrying drugs, medical aid, insecticides and tents.

22: Kuwait flew a cargo plane loaded with humanitarian aid to Sudan to help victims of the extensive flooding in the northern part of the country, reported the official Kuwait News Agency (KUNA). The aid, which was dispatched by Hercules C-130 transporter on the orders of Emir Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah, included tents, drugs, first aid kits and food supplies.

22: The White House has not decided whether to lift a ban on travel imposed on Sudan by the UN in 1996, reported the Washington Post. This is a month before the matter comes up for renewal in the 15-member UN Security Council, where the US has a veto. It has been reported that some US State Department and counter-terrorism officials favour rewarding Sudan for its co-operation. The sanctions were imposed in 1996 after Sudan refused to extradite three Egyptians accused of participating in the attempt to kill Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on June 26, 1995 in Ethiopia.

22: US officials have emphasised that Washington has no intention of lifting economic sanctions imposed on Sudan, because of the country's poor human rights record and possible continuing links to some terrorist groups, reported the Washington Post. The paper said that lifting the sanctions run foul of an American coalition of evangelical Christians, conservative lawmakers and anti-slavery activists who want to punish Khartoum waging war against the south.

22: Sudan's ambassador to the UN, Elfatih Erwa has said that he believed his government had succeeded in satisfying America's concerns that it was no longer supporting terrorists, reported the Washington Post. He was speaking in relation to the issue of sanctions imposed by the UN on Sudan in relation to the botched up bid to assassinate Egypt's President Mubarak.

22: Four Greek men accused of murdering a Greek Orthodox bishop in Sudan have been acquitted on a lack of evidence, a newspaper reported. Judge Zuhair Abdel Aal said in his verdict that the prosecutor had not been able to present sufficient evidence against the accused, the independent Al-Rai Al-Am newspaper said. Sudan's Greek Orthodox bishop, Titos Karatzalis, 69, was murdered last year in July at his residence in Khartoum.

22: The SPLA has claimed that their forces had captured two major government garrisons and killed more than 20 soldiers in the Nuba Mountains during the past two weeks. The group said that its 27th Brigade forces captured the Barkandi garrison in Dalany County on August 8 and killed nine government soldiers. In another "brief and decisive battle" on August 16, SPLA forces of the 26th Brigade captured the government garrison of Dari, killing 13 government soldiers.

22: Lawyers for a Tunisian accused of running an anti-Sudanese espionage network and his six alleged Sudanese accomplices have demanded the charges against them be dropped. The defence lawyer for Tunisian Ali bin Mustafa bin Hamed said in court that his client was pressured by Tunisia's embassy to provide information about Sudan's army, as well as Arab fundamentalists in the country, while lawyers for Hamed's six alleged accomplices are arguing their clients were unaware of the nature of their actions.

22: Saudi Arabia is considering the possibility of lifting ban on imports of livestock products from Sudan. Kamal Taha, a diplomat in the Sudanese embassy in Riyadh said that Saudi delegation, including experts and officials from trade and agriculture ministries will head to Sudan at the end of August and assess the situation. The ban was imposed in February over fears of contamination of livestock products by the mad cow disease, foot and mouth disease and the Rift Valley Fever.

22: Floods in northern Sudan have displaced tens of thousands of people, destroyed crops and aggravated already precarious food supply, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has said. "The humanitarian situation in the affected areas is reported to be critical and there is an urgent need for international assistance to rescue stranded people and provide them with food, drinking water, medicines and other assistance," said the agency.

22: The SPLA claimed that three people taken captive in a Nile riverboat ambush admitted to being Sudanese intelligence agents on a reconnaissance mission. "The whole group was used by the government army for reconnaissance purposes along the river road that connects the town of Malakal with the oil producing regions," said SPLA spokesman Yasser Arman. Malakal is 240 kilometers northeast of Wang Kai where the ambush took place.

23: A Scotland based engineering company, Weir Group hit out at criticism from human rights groups of its business in Sudan and said it would consider further projects there. The Glasgow-based maker of pumps sold its oil pumps to Sudan's emerging oil industry in 1998. Weir, which has also brought in Sudanese engineers for training has secured a second Sudanese contract to supply the pumps.

23: Presidential Adviser Ghazi Salah-Eddin was to leave for Addis Ababa carrying a special message from President Bashir, to the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, SUNA reported. Sudan ambassador to Ethiopia, Osman Al-Sayed, said that the message deals with progress of bilateral relations between the two countries.

23: President Bashir will inaugurate on August 24 the third phase of the Western Nile Road at Um-Kati as well as an electricity power project for seven rural villages in the northern part of Karari Province, SUNA reported. He will also address a rally at the area of Al-Kodab and attend a mass marriage in the same area.

23: President Bashir received a cable of thanks from the Moroccan Monarch, King Mohammed VI, in response to a cable he earlier sent to him on the occasion of the anniversary of his coronation, SUNA reported. Meanwhile, Bashir has issued a Republican Decree, appointing Amin Hassan Omer as General Director of the Sudanese Radio and Television Corporation, SUNA reported.

23: Presidential adviser, Ghazi Salah-Eddin will hold talks with Ethiopian Foreign Minister Ato Seyom Mussfin, and meet leaders of the ruling party in Ethiopia, Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front, SUNA reported. He will also make contacts with the Secretary General of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), the agency added.

23: A Political Committee emanating from the joint Sudanese-Ethiopian ministerial committee is to hold a meeting in Addis Ababa early September, Sudan's ambassador to Ethiopia, Osman Al-Sayed said. He added that the committee would discuss implementation of agreements signed by the two countries during the 5th session of the ministerial committee in Addis Ababa held last April.

23: Sudan's ambassador to Ethiopia, Osman Al-Sayed indicated that preparations are being made for opening two Sudanese consulates in Gundar and Gumbaila in Ethiopia and two Ethiopian consulates in Gadarif and Damazin in Sudan within the context of the efforts to facilitate the movement of citizens across the border and to boost the border trade. The ambassador said that preparations are also underway to hold the third session of the joint border development committee in the Sudanese town of Damazin.

23: An Ethiopian delegation, headed by the Ethiopian Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications, is due to visit Sudan to review with the officials at the Ministry of Transport aspects of bilateral cooperation, reported SUNA. The agency added that the delegation would inspect the progress of work at Gadarif - Doka - Galabat - Almatama road that links the two countries. The delegation will also discuss means of linking the two countries with a railway line.

23: Sudan's State Minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Al-Tighani Salih Fedail, received at his office visiting General Director of the Arab League Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ALESCO), Dr. Al-Munji Bosneina. The meeting discussed cooperation between the Sudan and ALESCO.

23: Sudan's Second Vice - President, Prof. Moses Machar, has affirmed the government's keenness to realise stability and development in the south and to make a success the agricultural season there, SUNA reported. He made the affirmation when he received in his office a delegation of the farmers of Western Barh el-Ghazal State.

23: The US Securities and Exchange Commission is not backing down from a new demand that foreign companies wanting to raise capital in the US must declare whether they are earning profits from "rogue" states, reported a Canadian paper, the Financial Post. In what has become an intense political battle, Congress is trying to force Harvey Pitt, the new SEC chairman, to honour a May 8 pledge made by Laura Unger, the former acting SEC chairman, to demand more disclosure from non-US companies about foreign operations, especially in Sudan.

23: General Director of the Arab League Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ALESCO), Dr. Al-Munji Bosneina, met with the Arab ambassadors accredited to the Sudan and acquainted them with the objectives of his visit, reported SUNA. Bosneina said that he had come to affirm the effective role of the Sudan as the gate to Africa and to boost the joint Arab works in the domains of culture and science. While calling for dialogue between civilizations, Bosneina asked for the maintaining of Arab heritage and expanding the Arabic language and the Islamic culture.

23: Government of Sudan forces defused explosives laid down by a rebel group to blow up a major oil pipeline, the Interior Minister said in a statement. Abdel-Rahim Hussein said six land mines and a detonator were discovered 40 kilometers south of the city of Sinkat, some 1,000 kilometers east of Khartoum. Soldiers found pamphlets at the scene produced by a group called the Beja Conference, which is made up of four eastern tribes who are fighting for autonomy.

24: Trade between Sudan and Indonesia in the last three years was worth

US$52 million, SUNA reported. According to the news agency, Jakarta imported

crude oil and food materials from Sudan, while the Sudan imported mostly

construction materials from Indonesia.

25: A report by an American research centre says that the US might have bombed the wrong factory when its planes struck at a Khartoum pharmaceutical plant in 1998 accusing the plant of manufacturing chemical weapons. Detailed analysis by the California-based Centre for Non-proliferation Studies were released as the owner of the factory seeks compensation from the US government.

25: The Chairman of the Sudanese National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Mohammed Osman al-Mirghani has said that his party is committed to the Egyptian-Libyan peace initiative. In a statement, Mirghani further appealed to Libyan President, Muammar Gaddafi to work along with other African leaders to maintain a unified stance seeking a political solution in Sudan.

24: The SPLA has reiterated that they would participate in the Egyptian-Libyan peace initiative only if it took into account four issues it considers key to the resolution of the conflict. These are the separation of state and religion, the right of self-determination, the creation of an interim constitution and an interim government based on it.

24: Thousands of Sudanese Muslims attending prayers in Khartoum called for a holy war against Israel saying it is time for Arabs and Muslims to "move into action." Sheik Tanoun, who led the sermon at Khartoum's Republican Palace mosque, criticised a lack of Arab support for the Palestinians, saying, "Why should there be a meeting of foreign ministers or culture ministers of Arab states? We want a meeting of defence ministers, of chiefs of staff."

25: Egypt and Libya will hold a joint meeting in Tripoli on August 26 to discuss ways of activating the peace initiative they have drafted to end the Sudanese war. Egyptian Deputy Assistant Foreign Minister Rafiq Khalil will, on behalf of Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher, lead an Egyptian delegation to the meeting.

25: President Bashir received a message from Nigerian President Obasanjo dealing with the Nigerian efforts for realising peace in Sudan, reported SUNA. Nigeria's Minister of State, Dr. Osman Bogagi, who arrived in Sudan for a one-day visit, delivered the message to Bashir.

25: President Bashir has reiterated his government's concern with the rural areas and their development, reported SUNA. He said this while addressing a political rally at Al-Houshab near the city of Omdurman.

25: Presidential adviser, Ghazi Salah-Eddin, has convoyed a message from President Bashir to the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, dealing with the developments of the peace in Sudan as well as the progress of bilateral relations between the two countries, reported SUNA. Ghazi arrived in Addis Ababa for discussion with the Ethiopian government.

25: Sudan's newly appointed Chief Justice, Jalal Mohamed Osman, was sworn in at the Republican Palace before the President Bashir, reported SUNA. Also sworn in were the new Commissioners of Shi'ariya Province and the headquarters of Nahral-Neil State, Mohamed Al-Ajib Ismail and Abul-Ma'ali Abdul-Rahman, respectively.

25: Acting Secretary-General of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), Habeeb Dutam affirmed OAU's support to the efforts being exerted by Khartoum to realise peace in the country, reported SUNA. This was during a meeting between Dutam and presidential adviser, Ghazi Salah-Eddin, who visited OAU's Headquarters in Addis Ababa.

25: The leader of Uganda's rebel Lord Resistance Army (LRA), Joseph Kony, who has reportedly been deserted by his followers, has turned his guns on the Sudanese government, reported a Ugandan daily, New Vision. The paper reported that Kony's group had killed five Sudanese soldiers after Khartoum attacked a camp where he was keeping abducted civilians hostage.

26: The lawyer of a Tunisian man sentenced to 15 years in jail on spying and forgery charges has said that his client would appeal against the sentence. Ali bin Mustafa Hammed was sentenced on August 25 for forming a spy ring in Sudan to fabricate reports on the presence of Tunisian Islamic fundamentalists. In addition to the jail term, he was fined US$2,000.

26: Nile floods in Sudan have destroyed hundreds of homes and left thousands of families homeless this flood season, according to official preliminary estimates. The worst affected area was River Nile State in northern Sudan where 1,102 families were left without shelter when floods tore down 577 homes in 55 villages and partially damaged 811 others, the civil defence report said.

26: President Bashir presided over the meeting of the Preparatory Committee for the convening of the ruling NC party's general national conference, SUNA reported. In a statement, Secretary of the party's Organisational Liaison Sector, Nafie Ali Nafie said that the Preparatory Committee had formed three sub-committees to oversee the organisation of the upcoming conference.

26: Sudan and Ethiopia discussed aspects of co-operation between the two countries in the field of transport, SUNA reported. During the meeting in Khartoum, the two countries deliberated about the implementation of the road linking Sudan and Ethiopia, which is expected to be inaugurated by the end of the current year.

26: Sudan's Acting under-secretary of the Foreign Ministry, Dr. Mutarif Siddiq met with the European Union Ambassador to the country and discussed progress of Sudanese-European dialogue, reported SUNA. The two also discussed the peace process in the context of the IGAD initiative and what has been agreed upon during the last meeting in Nairobi.

26: Sudan's Embassy in Kuwait will organise from September 8-13 a Sudan Cultural Week in collaboration with the Kuwaiti Council for Culture and Arts reported SUNA. The mission's acting Charge d'Affaires, Abdalla Omer indicated that the Cultural Week would coincide with the celebrations of Kuwait marking its declaration as an Arab cultural country.

26: Sudan will host the meeting of the Ministries of Industry of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) in October, reported SUNA. The meeting will review a number of papers on industrial co-operation, the effect of industrial partnership, capacity building, industrial modernisation and the development of basic infrastructure conducive to boosting the flow of commodities.

26: Sudan's Foreign Minister, Mustafa Ismail met with Burkina Faso President, Blaise Compaore and reviewed bilateral relations between the two countries, reported SUNA. This was during the meeting of the Bank of Community of Sahel and Sahara (Sen Sad) held in Burkina Faso during which the host was elected to replace Sudan as chairman of the executive council of the Bank.

26: A gift by the Sudanese government to the UN has been installed at the UN General Assembly Hall, reported SUNA. The black pottery antique, which dates back to the Meroetic era in the history of Sudan (350- 400 years BC), was given to the UN by President Bashir, on behalf of Sudan government and people.

27: President Bashir briefed his Cabinet on the outcome of the Smart Partnership Conference recently held in Kampala, Uganda, and the efforts of Sudan's delegation to the conference which focused on dialogue for mutual benefits, reported SUNA. Bashir also reviewed the outcome of the meetings he held with the heads of state who attended the Kampala conference on bilateral co-operation and realisation of peace in Sudan.

27: Sudan's governing Council of Ministers approved an agreement between the government and OPEC's Fund for International Development, after a presentation by Minister of Finance and National Economy Abdul-Rahim Hamdi. According to the agreement, the Fund is to extend to Sudan a loan of US$10 million for the rehabilitation of the irrigation infrastructure in the Gezira Scheme.

27: The Sudanese government has approved the national plan of action on bio-diversity in the country, reported SUNA. This was based on a report by Sudan's Minister of Environment and Physical Development, Maj. Gen. (Rtd.) Al-Tegani Adam Al-Tahir.

27: Sudan's Minister of Justice, Ali Mohamed Osman Yassin, will lead Sudan's delegation to the upcoming UN Conference on Racism scheduled to be held in South Africa in September, reported SUNA. Foreign Minister, Mustafa Ismail has said that he agreed with his Egyptian counterpart, Ahmed Mahir to co-ordinate the delegations of Sudan and Egypt at the conference.

27: Riot police in Khartoum used teargas and batons to break up a demonstration by thousands of students, who were protesting against the doubling of bus fares, reported the BBC. The Sudanese government had earlier doubled fares for students after complaints from the mainly privately owned bus companies. The firms said they were losing money because they had to grant students half-price tickets.

27: Sudan's governing Council of Ministers condemned the US over the 1998 bombing of the El-Shifa Pharmaceutical Plant in Khartoum. The Council said that the attack was a flagrant violation of international law, the sovereignty of an independent state and an aggression by a country that is supposed to be sponsor and supporter of the international peace and security.

27: Foreign Minister, Mustafa Ismail said that Egypt has agreed to a meeting in October to review the progress of the Egyptian-Libyan peace initiative. The meeting will be co-chaired by Sudan and Egypt's Foreign Ministers.

27: A Tunisian delegation will arrive in Sudan to explore ways on how to promote economic ties between the two countries, reported SUNA. The delegation will seek which areas to invest in the country, added the news agency.

27: The Sudan Peace Act has precipitated a debate in the US over whether human rights should take precedence over the importance of keeping American capital markets open to foreigners, reported the Wall Street Journal. Wall Street interests are working to defeat the provisions, with public backing from Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and the Bush administration, the paper reported while human rights and Christian groups want the provisions passed in whole.

27: Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail stressed that the court verdict issued against a Tunisian national convicted on espionage will not affect the Sudanese-Tunisian relations, reported SUNA. Ismail claimed that the Sudanese judiciary is independent, and that its decision was issued independently.

27: The Sudanese government appealed to the international community to exert pressure on the SPLA to agree to a resumption of peace negotiations, a Foreign Ministry statement said. The SPLA has said that self-determination for the south and separation between state and religion had to be included in the agenda of the negotiations.

27: Flooding along the Nile River in Sudan has inundated 80 villages, destroyed 2,000 homes and damaged 2,500 others and washed away at least two bridges, newspapers reported. But flooding has subsided in Khartoum, easing concerns that this year's floods could rival those of 1988, which killed dozens of people and left around two million homeless.

27: Sudan's State Minister for Foreign Affairs Chol Deng met in Khartoum with the Nigerian Ambassador in Khartoum, who briefed him on preparations for the conference of southern Sudanese political forces, which is to be hosted by the Nigerian government in Abuja in October, reported SUNA. Deng welcomed the efforts by Nigeria to bring peace in Sudan, saying that Abuja is qualified to play a prominent role in Sudan's peace process.

27: Khartoum affirmed its commitment to negotiate for peace within the framework of any initiative or forum that is conducive and will bring to an end the war, reported SUNA. This was in a statement issued by a spokesman in the Foreign Ministry, ambassador Yousif Fadul Ahmed, who was reacting to SPLA's earlier announcement that the group will not to implement the Egyptian-Libyan peace initiative, until certain conditions are met.

27: President Bashir's Adviser for Political Affairs, Gotbi Al-Mahdi, returned to Khartoum from Tehran, Iran, where he participated in the meetings of the Group of 77 (G77). On his arrival, Dr. Gotbi described the meetings as successful and came in a suitable time before the meetings of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which is to be held in Doha, Qatar in November.

27: Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail has said that a meeting of the joint high committee for closer integration between Sudan and Libya will be held in Khartoum in September. He said this after a trip to Libya where he met with the Secretary of the Libyan People's Committee for African Unity Ali Al-Teraiki and Secretary General of the Sudanese-Libyan Integration Mahdi Babou Nimir.

27: Presidential adviser, Gotbi Al-Mahdi affirmed the strong relations that link Sudan and Iran, reported SUNA. This is after he conveyed special messages to the Iranian President, Dr. Mohammed Khatami, from President Bahir, and another one from the Speaker of Sudan's National Assembly, Ahmed Ibrahim Al-Tahir, to his Iranian counterpart, Ayatollah Korbi.

27: State Minister for Foreign Affairs Chol Deng met at his office with the Italian Ambassador to Khartoum and discussed the on going peace efforts through the IGAD and the Egyptian-Libyan initiative. Deng also praised Italy's role and continuous support for the peace process in Sudan within the framework of the IGAD Partners Forum.

28: Following reports of Sudanese army casualties in clashes with the Ugandan rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), the authorities in Khartoum said that they planned to engage in military operations against LRA forces operating in southern Sudan, news agencies reported. Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail said in a statement that Sudanese government forces would challenge any LRA military operations in Sudanese territory.

28: President Bashir met with his Foreign Minister, Mustafa Ismail who acquainted him with progress of Sudan foreign policy as well as regional and international developments, reported SUNA. Ismail said that he briefed Bashir, who is the Chairman of the Community of Sahel and Sahara States about his recent visit to Libya, Egypt and Burkina Faso.

28: Sudan's State Minister at the Peace Department, Sultan Dhio Mattok, said that the proposed conference of the southern political forces, due to be held in the Nigerian capital, Abuja is an initiative by a number of exiled southern political figures notably Joseph Lagu and Bona Malawal. Mattok said that all the invited parties have confirmed their participation in the conference, including the SPLA.

28: A Turkish delegation, representing the Turkish businessmen and investors at the Turkish Chamber of Industry, is due to arrive in Khartoum on August 31, announced Deputy Director of the federal Investment Department at the Ministry of Industry and Investment, Al-Mahi Khalafalla. He stated that the delegation includes investors in the fields of petroleum, food, and textile industries, in addition to technology of agricultural equipment, cement and leather industries as well as sugar and pipes industry.

28: President Bashir, will participate in the upcoming celebrations in Libya marking the September 1, 1969 coup that brought president Muammar Gaddafi to power, SUNA reported.

28: Sudan's Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Majzoub Al-Khalifa, has praised the leading role being played by the Arab Organisation for Agricultural Development (AOAD) for boosting the agricultural sector in the Arab World, through the implementation of highly advanced scientific methods and technologies. Addressing the opening session of the group's meeting in Khartoum, Al-Khalifa stressed that Sudan agricultural potentialities will remain available for the interest of the Arab World to achieve Arab food security.

28: Foreign Minister, Mustafa Ismail, received in his office the Saudi Ambassador to Sudan, Abdalla Mohamed Al-Harthi. The ambassador conveyed a verbal message to the minister from his brother Saudi Foreign Minister, Prince Saud Al-Faisal, dealing with bilateral relations between the two countries.

28: The government of the Republic of Comoros has consented to the nomination of Osman Al-Sayed as Sudan's ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to that country, reported SUNA.

28: Sudan's Minister of Federal Government, Dr. Nafie Ali Nafie, chaired a meeting preparing a National Conference of evaluating the Federal Government System, reported SUNA. Sayed said that a number of technical committees will prepare working papers for the conference, which include structures, powers and relations, legislation of federal rule, resources and services, social and cultural changes, local government, peace and security, human resources and the international experiences.

28: A teenage Sudanese refugee in the US has been charged with raping a woman and burning her hand with a cigarette outside his apartment. Daniel Majok Kachuol, 19, who was resettled in Arlington, Boston, six months ago, pleaded innocent to charges of sexual assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. Middlesex District Court Judge Roanne Sragow set bail at US$ 50,000.

28: A teenage girl was hurt and four houses destroyed when Government of Sudan airplanes bombed three villages in the country's Eastern Equatoria Province on August 26. According to information from the Catholic Diocese of Torit (DOT), which covers the Province near the Uganda border, the attacks on the villages of Ngaluma, Ikotos and Hiyala occurred on the morning of Sunday when the local Christian communities were attending the morning church services.

28: The Committee in charge of the Libyan Egyptian Joint Initiative for National Reconciliation in Sudan ended its meetings in Tripoli and asked the Sudanese parties to persevere for the achievement of further progress. It also called on the parties to refrain from issuing communiqués that are likely to hamper the efforts of the committee and the process that aims at establishing peace and stability in Sudan.

28: A Sudanese MP warned that authorities trying to tackle flooding in northern Sudan had overlooked the problem of rising waters in the south, the Khartoum Monitor reported. The legislator, Muhammadal-Hajj Baballah for Juba North Constituency, said the towns of Luri, Mongalla, and some islands south of Terakeka along the White Nile had been badly affected by flooding.

28: Sudan TV reported that flooding along the Nile had destroyed more than 3,500 houses, 40 schools and 60 health centres in the Al-Shurayq region of Nile River State, northern Sudan. Crops, grain stores, and livestock had all been lost, and thousands of families had been forced to leave their homes, Sudan TV said.

29: Egyptian Ambassador to Sudan Mohammed Assim has affirmed that consultations are underway between the two states to evaluate the positions of the Sudanese parties that declared their acceptance of the Egyptian-Libyan peace initiative, reported SUNA. The envoy also called on all parties for reaching an equation that preserves the unity of the Sudanese territories and people, realises just distribution of power and wealth, boosts democracy and guarantees the freedom of expression and worship.

29: Sudan's Minister of Agriculture, Magzoub Al-Khalifa met with the Egyptian ambassador to Sudan, Mohamed Asim Ibrahim, and discussed the possibility of mapping out a timetable for implementing the agreements signed recently between Sudan and Egypt on agricultural co-operation. during the recent meetings of the higher joint committee in Khartoum. Al-Khalifa agreed on the importance of formation of joint work team to work out a feasibility study on development of Sesam research in Gadarif.

29: Sudan's Supreme Civil Defence Council, chaired by the First Vice - President Osman Taha has called for providing the urgent needs and accommodation for the flood-affected citizens in different states, reported SUNA. The Council has also called for the formation of a co-ordinating committee to include representatives from the Federal Ministry of Health, the Sudanese Red Crescent and other organisations to see how to deal with the floods.

29: UNICEF has returned almost 3,500 former child soldiers who were fighting in Sudan's civil war to their families, the organisation said. It added that all but 70 of 3,551 child soldiers released by the SPLA in February had been returned to their communities, while 4,000 more were awaiting demobilisation.

29: A meeting of the Leadership Office of the ruling NC party chaired by President Bashir postponed the party's general conference from September to October. The Secretary of the NC's Organisational Sector Dr. Nafie Ali Nafie said the meeting had been postponed due to the current floods and ongoing planting.

29: Foreign Affairs minister, Mustafa Ismail welcomed a planned visit of a US Congress delegation to Sudan, expressing hope that it will contribute to removing the impediments affecting the Sudanese-American relations, reported SUNA. Ismail said that the visit is one of the rare visits by American Congress members to Sudan.

29: Sudan's Federal Minister of Health, Dr. Ahmed Balal Osman has commended relations between Khartoum and Indonesian in the medical field, reported SUNA. The minister also reiterated the determination of the ministry to reactivate and develop the health agreements concluded between the two countries besides benefiting from the joint experience especially in the domain of medicines.

29: Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail briefed a US congressman on Sudan's foreign policy. Speaking to reporters following a meeting with Republican congressman from Louisiana, John Cooksey, Ismail said the two discussed Sudan's relations with neighbouring states and ways to improve its ties with the United States.

29: The Secretary General of the Ministry of Information and Communication, Abdul-Dafie Al-Khatib, chaired a meeting of the National Information Committee for the fifth population census in Sudan, scheduled for April 2003, reported SUNA. The meeting stressed the importance of a proper information plan to make the census a success.

29: UNICEF Executive Director, Carol Bellamy has expressed her delight with the return home of the former child soldiers in the SPLA. "These [returnee] children are among the lucky ones," she said. "Their demobilisation was hard-won but decisive, their relocation on World Food Programme (WFP) planes was extraordinary, and their stay in the transit camps preparing to return home was rewarding for all of us," she added.

29: Sudan's Minister of Justice, Ali Mohammed Osman Yasin left for Durban, South Africa, at the head of Sudan delegation to the UN third Conference on racism. Rapporteur of the Advisory Council for Human Right, Yassir Sid-Ahmed, who is a member of the Sudanese delegation to the conference, told SUNA that the Sudan delegation will express its stance which opposes the Israeli aggressions in the Arab occupied lands and considers Zionism as equal to racism.

30: Sudan's First Vice President, Osman Taha attended celebrations of the Ministry of Energy and Mining of the second anniversary of exporting the Sudanese oil, reported SUNA. The ministry's celebrations will continue for four days. The first shipment of the Sudanese oil was exported through Bashayer Port on August 30, 1999.

30: Sudan and Mauritania were singled out for practising slavery and racial discrimination in a study of countries on the Afro-Arab borderlands released by a United Nations research agency. Mali, Chad, and Niger were also named for practising racial discrimination and for causing tension between ethnic groups, notably the Tuareg.

30: Sudan has extended for two weeks the detention of opposition leader Hassan al-Turabi, who is charged with crimes against the state for signing a deal with the SPLA, a newspaper said. The independent al-Sahafa said judicial authorities issued the order for the Islamist ideologue's continued detention. Turabi was moved from prison to house arrest in May.

30: President Bush is close to naming former Missouri Sen. Jack Danforth as his special envoy for Sudan as part of the administration's plan to launch a more muscular effort to halt the Sudanese war, reported the Associated Press. Administration officials told the news agency that Danforth and Bush aides were in the final stages of negotiating terms for the post.

30: President Bashir, has hailed the deeds of the Armed Forces and its adherence to the national principles of aborting all the conspiracies against Sudan, reported SUNA. He added that the forces were succeeding in guaranteeing the unity and stability of the country, continuity of the development and re-building process and utilisation of the national resources, top of them is oil.

30: Sudan reaffirmed its commitment to the international agreements and charters on non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the country's embassy to Britain said. Refuting reports that Khartoum was now using surface missiles, the mission said that Sudan has never attempted to possess weapons that cause mass destruction.

30: State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Chol Deng met with the Russian ambassador to Khartoum, reported SUNA. The meeting reviewed bilateral relations and means of strengthening them in all fields. Deng praised Russia's supportive stances to Sudan, calling on Russia to bolster the bilateral economic, commercial and technological co-operation.

30: Sudan Foreign Ministry's Under-secretary, Dr. Mutraf Siddiq, met with the Head of the Canadian Embassy office in Khartoum in a meeting called to review bilateral relations and the country's peace process within the context of the IGAD and the joint Egyptian-Libyan initiatives.

30: First Vice President, Osman Taha, was to inaugurate the first meeting of the national council for preparing and supervising the strategic programme of poverty alleviation in the country. The State Minister at the Ministry of Finance, Dr. Ahmed Majzoub, said that the meeting will get acquainted with implementation of the national programme within the framework of the poverty alleviation plan, especially in the fields of health, education and water.

31: President Bashir left Khartoum for Libya to attend that country's celebrations marking the September 1, 1969 coup that brought President Muammar Gaddafi to power, reported SUNA. His peace adviser, Ghazi Salah Eddin and Foreign Minister, Mustafa Ismail accompanied him.

31: The SPLA called on the UN racism conference in South Africa to consider the Khartoum government an "apartheid" regime. "The regime in power is characterised by a religious and cultural arrogance, a contempt for cultures and beliefs of society ... and by attempts to remodel Sudanese citizens in the name of Islam," SPLA spokesman Yasser Arman said in the statement.

31: Three African presidents arrived in Libya for celebrations to mark the 32nd anniversary of the Libyan revolution. Sudanese President Bashir, Chad's Idriss Deby and Benin's General Mathieu Kerekou were welcomed by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

31: Morocco's Agriculture Minister, Ismail Al-Alawe was being expected in Khartoum for a four-day visit on talks related to agricultural and industrial matters, reported SUNA. He will meet with Sudan's Ministers of Agriculture, Irrigation, Industry, Foreign Trade and Animal Resources together with the Director of the Arab Authority for Agricultural Development.

31: Sudan earned US$712 million from its exports in the first half of the year, said the country's Minister of Foreign Trade, Abdul-Hamid Musa Kasha. Most of these exports were agricultural commodities, industrial materials and oil.

31: Sudan's Advisory Council of the Ministry of Energy and Mining was to hold its first meeting to discuss developments in the power industry, reported SUNA. In particular, the Council was to deliberate on future investment policies and ways to encourage local and foreign entrepreneurs to invest in the country's energy and mining sub-sectors.

31: The Union of the Sudanese Businessmen and Employers, Chamber of Meat Exporters and Union of the Exporters of Vegetables and Fruits will participate in a trade exhibition in Jordan from September 30 - October 7, reported SUNA. The firms will exhibit their products under the auspices of the country's Ministry of Agriculture, added the agency.

31: President Gaddafi said that a full integration of Libya, Egypt and Sudan is a priority since the three countries were one area, reported MENA. The Libyan leader voiced his belief that if southern Sudanese seceded, it will not serve their own interests.

September 1: Khartoum claimed that government troops had recaptured the strategic town of Raga in western Bahr al-Ghazal province from the SPLA, which seized it in early June. But there was no independent confirmation of the claim that was contained in a pro-government newspaper.

1: The British government donated UK£100,000 to assist Sudanese affected by floods in northern parts of the country, reported SUNA. Another UK£300,000 was given to the Red Cross to be utilised in water programme in Darfur states.

1: A group of 200 investors from Turkey arrived in Khartoum for a three-day visit to Sudan, reported SUNA. A statement by the Turkish Chamber of Industry said that the delegation aimed to develop the commercial co-operation between Sudan and Turkey, especially in heavy and light industries, textile, petroleum industries, sugar and cement.

1: Khartoum's State Minister of Information and Communications Al-Tayeb Mustafa chaired the first meeting of a government committee seeking the implementation of a comprehensive national strategy on information in the country, reported SUNA. The meeting set up a technical sub-committee to study elements of capacity building in information and training.

1: A consortium of international oil companies has signed an agreement to begin operations in Block's 3 and 7 in the country's Upper Nile area. The companies which signed the agreement in a ceremony officiated by the country 's Minister of Energy and Mining, Dr. Awad Ahmed Al-Jaz are the Qatar's Gulf Company, China's China National Petroleum Company, United Arab Emirates Al-Thani Corporation and Sudan's national oil firm, SUDAPET.

1: President Bashir received a written message from the President of Central Africa Republic, Felix Ange-Patasse, dealing with the bilateral relations between the two countries, reported SUNA. This was when the two leaders met during celebrations to mark the Libyan revolution in Tripoli.

1: Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ambassador Yusuf Fadul has affirmed the Sudanese government's commitment not to use children as soldiers. Commenting about the return of former child soldiers in the SPLA to their families, Fadul said that the returning of the former recruits "constitutes a condemnation to the practices of the rebel movement of coercive recruitment of children."

1: President Bashir met with Libyan leader Gaddafi in Tripoli and praised the efforts being exerted by Gaddafi to end the Sudanese war, reported SUNA. Bashir commended Gaddafi for his role in establishing the African Union and the Sahel and Sahara Community.

2: Unknown assailants ambushed a vehicle belonging to Catholic Relief Services in northern Uganda killing six people, AP reported. According to CRS country director for Sudan, Paul Townsend, the attack took place near Adjumani, 350 kilometres north of Kampala as the vehicle returned from the southern Sudanese border town of Nimule where CRS has a camp that co-ordinates its food aid operations in Sudan.

2: President Bashir met in Libya with a Nigerian delegation and acknowledged Nigeria's role in realising peace in Sudan, reported SUNA. The meeting also dealt with the upcoming conference on peace in Sudan that it to be sponsored by Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo in Abuja in October.

2: Sudan's Minister of Energy and Mining, Awad Ahmed al-Jaz marked the second year since Sudan started exporting oil by inaugurating in Omdurman, a factory dealing in oil products, the Mathew Plant for Engine Oil Products. Al-Jaz said that the plant, an affiliate to Mathew Petroleum (Sudan) Company had a production capacity of 60,000 metric tonnes a year, exceeding the country's needs estimated at 40,000 metric tonnes.

2: President Bashir hailed the achievements of the Libyan government saying that the country's September First Revolution had effected economic and social development in Libya and laid important basis for popular participation, reported SUN A. He also referred to the Revolution's role in supporting the Arab and African issues.

2: The SPLA claimed that its forces had killed a government soldier during fighting near Raga in western Bahr el Ghazal, reported AP. Earlier; state-run media reported that government troops had retaken the town.

2: The meeting of the Joint Sudanese-Ethiopian political sub-committee will be held in Khartoum from September 5 -7, reported SUNA. The sub-committee meets every three months to review issues agreed upon by the joint political committees of the two countries.

2: First Vice President Osman Taha met in Khartoum with the Chairman of the Co-ordination Council for the Southern States, Brigadier Galwak Deng and was briefed about relief efforts in southern Sudan, reported SUNA. In a statement, Brig. Deng said that they had also discussed the state of roads, water and electricity power in Juba, Malakal and other southern towns.

2: The trial of three members of Sudan's security forces charged with murdering a member of an Islamic opposition party opened in a criminal court in Khartoum. Six security agents have been charged with killing Ali Hamed al-Bashir, a deputy of the Popular National Congress (PNC) party of Hassan al-Turabi.

3: The Ugandan army said that it wanted to be given permission by Khartoum to enter up to 120km inside Sudan to dismantle camps run by the rebel group, LRA, reported a weekly newspaper, The East African. Sudan has promised to shut down these camps, but military sources in Kampala said that should Sudan fail, then Ugandan forces should be given the permission to destroy the camps.

3: The SPLA strongly denied claims by Khartoum that government troops had captured Raga in western Bahr el Ghazal province. SPLA spokesman Samson Kwaje told AFP that "SPLA forces were in full control of Raga."

3: This year's poor crops in Sudan have eliminated the country as a source of sorghum to satisfy demand in European countries reported BridgeNews. Spain, which is one of the affected countries as it imports 200, 000 tonnes of sorghum from Sudan, has asked the EU Grains Management Committee to authorise Madrid to import sorghum at a reduced tariff from elsewhere.

3: Sudan's Minister of Justice Ali Mohammed Osman Yassin asked the UN Conference against Racism that it was imperative that the meeting addressed and condemned practices by Israel in relation to Palestinians, reported SUNA. Yassin said Israel's policies of displacing, blockading and shooting at Palestinians were a flagrant defiance of the international community and legality.

3: A delegation of the Charity Foundation of Mohamed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) arrived in Khartoum to offer assistance to the flood-affected citizens in Nahral-Neil State, reported SUNA. A press statement by the relief agency said the group had brought food materials, medicines, blankets, insecticides and clothes worth US$50,000.

3: The Sudan government supported National Press Council together with UNICEF will from September 8-13 organise a workshop in Khartoum to deliberate media and gender issues, reported SUNA. The seminar will also include computer-training sessions for journalists.

4: The Sudanese government received notification from the IGAD Secretariat on postponement of peace talks between Khartoum and the SPLA scheduled for September 4 in Nairobi, reported SUNA. The acting Under-secretary in the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Mutrif Siddiq told the news agency that by the time they received the notification an advance delegation had already arrived in Nairobi.

4: Sudan's Minister of Justice, Ali Mohamed Osman Yassin, met with Rev. Jesse Jackson during the UN conference on racism and refuted allegations that Khartoum abets slavery in the country, reported SUNA. Yassin also met with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Secretary General of the conference, Ms. Mary Robinson and reviewed the human rights situation in Sudan.

4: President Bashir has awarded Mir Ali Asghar Al-Musowi, Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Sudan, the Two Niles Order (first class) in recognition of his role in boosting bilateral relations between the two countries, reported SUNA. This came when President Al-Bashir received the ambassador on the occasion of the expiry of his assignment to Sudan.

4: Foreign Affairs minister Mustafa Ismail met with the Chinese ambassador in Khartoum and discussed the progress of the relations between Sudan and China especially in relation to investment opportunities and the various projects being implemented by the Chinese companies in Sudan.

4: The Secretary General of the ruling NC party, Ibrahim Ahmed Omar, denied media reports that his party was seeking to mend fences with Turabi's PNC party. Omar denied press reports that 185 members of the NC had presented a memorandum aimed at bringing the PNC back to the fold.

4: Oil production in Sudan is a bridge of peace, development and economic cooperation regionally and internationally, Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail said. "Oil is a major factor in formulating Sudan's foreign policy," Ismail stressed, adding that oil has contributed a great deal to the improvement of Sudan's relations with Arab, African and other countries.

5: Six people including three children were killed and a similar number injured after a Government of Sudan bomber dropped 24 bombs on a village in the country's southern Eastern Equatoria region on September 3. A spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Torit (DOT) that covers the affected area said three of the injured were in critical condition.

5: The US is preparing an initiative to end the Sudanese civil war, US officials said. The plan, expected to include up to US$30-million in humanitarian and relief aid, is to be led by former US senator John Danforth who the officials said could be named Washington's point man for Sudan.

5: The Sudanese government welcomed news that the United States said it wanted to play a greater role in seeking peace in Sudan, Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail said. The minister also welcomed reports of the imminent nomination of a US peace envoy to Sudan, saying "this move will mark a new chapter in US-Sudanese relations, which we hope will help put an end to the war and re-establish peace."

5: The UN Security Council plans to lift its five-year-old sanctions on Sudan this month with the agreement of the US, Council president Jean-David Levitte of France said. Outlining the Council's programme of work, Levitte said that he had scheduled a September 17 meeting to adopt a resolution to remove the sanctions.

5: The Sudanese government cautiously welcomed news that the US will unveil an initiative of its own to end Sudan's 18-year civil war. The state-run Al-Anbaa daily quoted an official as greeting any US plan to reconcile the warring parties "on condition that such an initiative be based on neutrality."

5: The Advisor of Sudan's Foreign Affairs minister, Awad-Al-Karim Fadalla, was elected chairman of the experts' meeting to discuss a draft agreement for setting up a mechanism for early warning of the IGAD, reported SUNA. This came in the inaugural session of the experts' meeting in Addis Ababa.

5: Sudan's Minister of Information and Communication, Mahdi Ibrahim, has affirmed the government confidence in the Egyptian-Libyan peace initiative, reported SUNA. Ibrahim said that the call of the Sudanese parties to start dialogue will be a real test for the intentions and seriousness of the Sudanese parties, added the agency.

6: Former US Senator John C. Danforth of Missouri is President Bush's choice as a special envoy to Sudan, an administration officials told AP. It was reported that the former Republican lawmaker was meeting Bush "to get my marching orders direct from him, to hear what he says and to hear why this is important to him."

6: Foreign Minister, Mustafa Ismail claimed that Sudan had fulfilled all its obligations concerning the issue of the sanctions imposed on it by Security Council. The minister was commenting on statements by the Chairman of the Security Council and envoy of France at the council, who said that the Security Council has fixed September 17 as a date for discussing the issue of lifting the sanctions from Sudan.

6: Japan has donated emergency aid worth US$67,316 to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (Sudan Delegation) to assist flood victims in the country's northern areas, reported SUNA. The agency added that Japan hopes that by extending the aid, Tokyo would like to strengthen its relations with Khartoum.

6: Foreign Minister, Mustafa Ismail, was due to head Sudan's delegation for a meeting of the Ministerial Council of the Arab League to be held in Cairo on September 9, reported SUNA. According to the news agency, the meeting will discuss bilateral relations, the Sudan peace issue and the situation at the Middle East especially the Palestinian question.

6: A German company, GHH has expressed desire to invest in the Sudan in the domain of electricity generation reported SUNA. The country's Minister of Energy and Mining, Awad Ahmed Al-Jazz, who met with a delegation from the company, expressed the readiness of his ministry and the National Electricity Corporation to provide them with all the necessary information and assistance.

6: The SPLA gave a cautious welcome to news of a US initiative to end the 18-year civil war in Sudan, saying Washington had the power to advance the cause of peace. Jurkuch Barach, SPLA's representative to Arab countries, said if the United States gets involved, "there can be a move forward ... because they are the only power we have in the world."

6: Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail said that his government was ready to co-operate with the new US peace envoy to Sudan. Speaking shortly before US President George Bush formally announced the appointment, he said his "government intended to give full freedom of action" to the US envoy so that he can learn about the situation.

7: The head of Sudan's conference of Roman Catholic bishops welcomed the appointment by US President Bush of a special envoy to Sudan, saying it was a positive step towards peace. "We welcome any new moves for peace and pray for their success and that includes America's new role in ending the war," Archbishop Paulino Lukudu Loro told AFP.

7: Uganda's Third Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, James Wapakhabulo told the UN conference on racism, that President Museveni is not part of the causes of the Sudan civil war, reported a Ugandan daily, New Vision. "The civil war in Sudan began in 1956 while President Yoweri Museveni was attending primary school.The current President of Uganda could not have caused the conflict." said Wapakhabulo.

7: Meetings of the Higher Committee for integration between Sudan and Libya will take place in Khartoum soon to discuss the reactivation of bilateral relations between the two countries, areas of joint investment and the issue of peace in Sudan, reported SUNA. The meeting is to be chaired by First Vice President, Osman Taha.

7: Sudan's Catholic Bishops accused foreign oil companies of complicity in brutal human rights abuses being committed by Khartoum during the course of the war. In a statement issued at the end of their three-week annual plenary, the bishops said that the war had intensified in the last three years thanks in part to the government's profits from investment by international oil firms in the country.

7: Foreign Minister, Mustafa Ismail met with the Saudi ambassador to Khartoum, Abdallah Mohamed Al-Harthi and discussed bilateral relations between the two countries and peace in Sudan, reported SUNA. The meeting also touched on the Palestinian issue in the face of the escalating violence in the Middle East.

7: Talisman said the appointment by the US of a special envoy to Sudan is "an extremely positive step" that could pave the way to engagement between the two countries, reported a Canadian paper, Financial Post. "The company is extremely pleased that they are going to become part of the process, because they carry a lot of weight around the world," said Edward Bogle, vice-president of exploration at Talisman.

7: Foreign Minister, Mustafa Ismail met with the Egyptian ambassador to Sudan, Mohamed Asim Ibrahim and discussed Egypt's efforts for ending the violence in the Middle East, reported SUNA. The meeting also centred on speeding up implementation of agreements signed recently by the joint Sudanese - Egyptian Higher Committee.

7: Former Secretary General of OAU, Salim Ahmed Salim thanked Sudan as the only country to have honoured him twice via awarding him the highest national awards, reported SUNA. This was during a party held in Khartoum to honour Ahmed on the expiry of his office term as OAU's Secretary General.

7: A Sudanese pro-government militia has accused the Ugandan LRA rebels of burning down villages in southern Sudan after losing the support of Khartoum. The head of the Equatoria Defence Force (EDF), Theophilus Ochang, was quoted as saying that several people were killed when LRA fighters torched a number of villages after President Bashir said recently that he would no longer provide them with military or logistical support.

8: Ethiopia and the Sudan have expressed their satisfaction over the implementation of the agreements signed last May by the two sides, the Ethiopian Herald newspaper reported. At the fifth Ethiopian-Sudanese Joint Ministerial Commission meeting held in Addis Ababa in May, the two sides signed the agreements mainly focusing on the need to promote the road and telecommunications links between the two countries.

8: The SPLA welcomed the US government's appointment of a special envoy to Sudan and promised to co-operate fully with the envoy. "The Movement (SPLA) wishes to assure the US government that it will co-operate fully with the special envoy in his endeavour towards bringing the war to a just and speedy end through a just, peaceful and lasting political settlement," said the group in a statement.

8: Egypt and Libya will push on with their Sudanese peace plan, despite Washington's decision to send a special envoy to help end the war, said Egypt's Foreign Affairs minister, Ahmed Maher. This was after he had held talks in Cairo with Libyan African Unity Minister Ali Abdel Salem Triki on ways of "restarting the Egyptian-Libyan initiative for a global reconciliation in Sudan." Maher quoted the Libyan minister as saying he believed the US envoy had only a small chance of ending the fighting.

8: President Bashir affirmed Sudan's determination and keenness to eradicate illiteracy within five years, reported SUNA. He announced the setting up of a government committee to follow up the progress of the national anti-illiteracy campaign in Sudan, which is to be headed by the First Vice President, Osman Taha.

8: Sudan's Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail left for Cairo at the head of Sudan delegation for participation at the meetings of the Arab League's ministerial council, reported SUNA. The agency said that the meeting will discuss a number of issues top of them being the situation at the Middle East, Afro-Arab and the Arab-European relations and peace in Sudan.

8: Sudan's Minister of Social Welfare and Development, Samya Ahmed Mohammed, will lead the country's delegation to a UN summit on children scheduled to be held in New York between September 19-21. The meeting will discuss reports on the state of the world's children since the last summit in 1990.

9: Sudan has welcomed Washington's appointment of a special envoy charged with brokering peace in the country, committing itself to talks with him, SUNA reported. Sudan's State Minister for Foreign Relations, Tiggani Saleh Fidail, expressed his country's "readiness ... to receive the US envoy and to engage in a dialogue with him within the framework of the mission assigned to him." Fidail spoke after a meeting with American Charge d'Affaires Raymond Brown in Khartoum.

9: The Secretary-general of the ruling NC party, Ibrahim Ahmed Omar, said his party has not received any US peace plan, but "we welcome any initiative that works to realise peace in the country," the Khartoum government daily al-Anbaa reported. Washington announced a peace plan when it named a special envoy for Sudan.

9: UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Kenzo Oshima and the UN Special Envoy for Sudan, Tom Eric Vraalsen, arrived in Sudan for a four-day visit. Upon arrival, Oshima said that he will discuss overcoming obstacles facing humanitarian operations in Sudan with the government and the SPLA.

9: IGAD expects a breakthrough in the peace negotiations of the Sudanese war, reported a Kenyan weekly paper, the Sunday Times. Bashir Attalla, IGAD's Executive Secretary, was quoted as saying that a permanent negotiations committee has been appointed and has been meeting in Nairobi to see how it can implement the declaration of principles that was signed in 1997 for a cease-fire, separation of religion and state and the constitutional conference.

10: The Catholic Archbishop of Kenyan port town of Mombasa, John Njenga, has asked the Kenyan government not to import oil from Sudan but instead use its closeness with the Khartoum government to bring lasting peace in the country. The cleric who was celebrating a mass attended by 12 Sudanese Catholic bishops said that if Kenya bought oil from Sudan that would be tantamount "to supporting the ongoing atrocities there."

10: The Sudanese government ordered the temporary suspension of the country's sole English-language paper, the Khartoum Monitor. The National Press Council ordered the daily banned for three days starting September 11 for articles said to have damaged relations between northern and southern Sudan.

10: Kuwait and Sudan have signed a memorandum of understanding on cultural cooperation, reported SUNA. Kuwaiti Minister of Information and Chairman of the National Council for Culture and Arts, Sheikh Ahmed Al-Fahd Al-Ahmed Al-Jabir Al-Sabah signed for Kuwait, while Minister of Culture and Tourism, Abdel-Basit Abdel-Majid signed for the Sudanese side.

10: Sudanese Information Minister Mahdi Ibrahim has branded John Garang a "lunatic" and accused him of making peace negotiations impossible. "Garang is a lunatic. He changes the agenda, he has opposed all (Sudanese) governments and all initiatives," he told reporters in Cairo after a meeting between Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Sudan's foreign minister, Mustafa Ismail.

11: The Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (Supkem) criticised a statement by the Catholic Archbishop of Mombasa, John Njenga, which urged the Kenya government not to import oil from Sudan, reported Kenya's Daily Nation newspaper. Supkem's National Organising Secretary, Shariff Hussein Omar said that Sudan was a member of the COMESA trade block and there was nothing wrong with Nairobi importing oil from Sudan.

11: Egypt's President Mubarak sent a message to President Bashir saying Cairo is "committed to preserving the national and territorial unity of Sudan, and rejects all attempts to divide it." This is according to a statement issued by the Egyptian Information Minister Safwat al-Sherif.

11: The World Food Programme (WFP) said that it was distributing food to people displaced by fighting in the oil-rich Unity state after reports showed malnutrition rates were alarmingly high. The WFP said 2,000 tonnes of food would be distributed to around 53,000 people in Bentiu and Rubkona towns, most of them displaced by an upsurge of the fighting.

11: Sudan's Minister of Education, Ali Tamim Fartak, returned to the country from Switzerland where he led the country's delegation to the International Education Conference, reported SUNA. Fartak said that he discussed with participants the implementation of Sudan's strategy to realise the slogan of "Education for All" by the year 2015.

11: President Bashir has reaffirmed his commitment to cooperate with the UN particularly in the humanitarian field, reported SUNA. He made the pledge during a meeting with the UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, Kenzo Oshima.

11: President Bashir, left for Saudi Arabia for a two-day visit during which he will meet with King Fahd bin Abdul-Aziz. Bashir was accompanied by the Minister of the Presidency of the Republic, Gen. Salah Mohamed Mohamed Salih, Foreign Minister, Mustafa Ismail, and the State Minister at the Peace Department, Iddris Mohamed Abdul-Ghader.

11: Foreign Affairs minister, Mustafa Ismail during a visit to Saudi Arabia denounced the terrorist attacks on a number of American targets in New York and Washington. He offered his condolences to the American government and people, reaffirming Khartoum's willingness to co-operate fully with the US government and the international community to combat all forms of terrorism and bring the perpetrators to justice.

11: Saudi Arabia's King Fahd Ibn Abdul-Aziz met in Kuwait with Sudanese President Bashir and discussed ways of boosting bilateral ties between the two countries. The two leaders conferred on economic cooperation, the situation in the Middle East and the establishment of joint investment projects in Sudan.

12: Talisman said it had no plans to pull its estimated 125 Canadian employees out of the war-torn Sudan following terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre and Pentagon. "No, we really don't have anything to say about it and have no plans to pull our staff out of Sudan,'' said a Talisman spokesman.

12: President Bashir condemned the multiple terrorist attacks in the US and voiced hope that Washington's reaction to them will be "unemotional." Sudan was attacked by American missiles in 1998 for its alleged links to Osama bin Laden, a Saudi terrorist accused to have masterminded the bombing of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

12: Meetings of the 5th session of the High Sudanese-Libyan integration Committee started in Khartoum under the joint-chairmanship of First Vice-President Osman Taha and the Secretary of the Libyan General People's Committee, Mubarak Al-Shamikh. The meeting talked over Sudan's vast natural resources, which they said made the country a solid base for Arab and African unity.

12: The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) has agreed to establish a US$2million regional centre for industrial development in Khartoum, reported SUNA. Khartoum's Minister of Industry and Investment Dr. Jalal Yousif Al-Digair said that UNIDO had also agreed to pay US$170,000 to boost an industrial survey in Sudan.

12: Sudan's State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Chol Deng met with the UN Secretary General's Special Envoy for Displaced Peoples, Francis Deng, reported SUNA. The meeting reviewed conditions of the displaced in Sudan and the government's efforts towards them, where the state minister stressed that the displaced enjoy all citizenship rights.

13: Talisman's shares spiralled on the Canadian stock market over fears the oil and gas giant will be punished for its operations in Sudan, reported the Canadian Press wire agency. Talisman stock fell nearly eight per cent or US$4.65 to US$55.85 as the impact of the terrorist attack on New York was absorbed by Canadian investors. But analysts said the company - with a vast Canadian and international oil and gas portfolio and lucrative cash flows - wouldn't face a sustained drop in its share price.

13: Sudan and Libya expressed hope that the devastating terror attacks in the US would not delay the lifting of terrorism-linked sanctions on their countries, reported AFP. Libyan Prime Minister Mubarak al-Shamikh and Sudan's First Vice President Osman Taha, in a joint press conference in Khartoum, spoke of positive signs for the lifting of sanctions before the attacks.

13: A Sudanese court has extended for two weeks the house arrest of Turabi and four of his colleagues, a Khartoum newspaper reported. The Al Anbaa government daily said the Khartoum criminal court ordered the move against Turabi and the executives in his PNC party after prosecutors said they needed to pursue their investigation.

13: The UN Security Council delayed a meeting to lift symbolic sanctions against Sudan because of attacks against the World Trade Centre and Pentagon, diplomats reported. US officials told Council members the time was not ripe, and sponsors of the resolution to end the bans agreed to put it off, the envoys said. France's UN Ambassador Jean-David Levitte, the current Council president had earlier said the 15-member body had been scheduled to discuss the embargoes and then vote to lift them on September 17.

13: President Bashir and his First Vice President Osman Taha send condolence messages to US President George Bush and the US Vice President, Dick Cheney expressing solidarity message with Americans over the bombing of New York and Washington, reported SUNA. Foreign Affairs minister, Mustafa Ismail also sent a similar message to his American counterpart Colin Powell.

13: President Bashir affirmed that the government will agree on fixing a number of days and weeks during which fighting stops completely to enable the vaccination of children in war torn areas, reported SUNA. Bashir said this while addressing meeting of Sudanese children, which was organised in Khartoum by the General Union of Sudanese Women and UNICEF.

13: President Bashir has been nominated as deputy chairman of the World Food Summit for a five-year term and chairman of a round-table meeting scheduled to be convened in Rome from November 5-9, SUNA reported. Bashir's appointment was announced in Khartoum by Sudan's permanent envoy to the Italy based Summit, Prof. Mohammed Saeed Harbi.

13: President Bashir was briefed on the outcome of the meetings of the 5th session of the ministerial committee for Sudanese-Libyan integration, reported SUNA. The meeting discussed joint investment opportunities between the two countries and the construction of roads linking Libya and Sudan.

13: Humanitarian aid by UN to the Sudanese affected by drought and floods was due to begin on September 14, announced the UN Secretary General's Special Envoy for Humanitarian Affairs, Kenzo Oshima, reported SUNA.

13: A Qatari plane carrying relief aid from Qatar for flood victims arrived in Khartoum, reported SUNA. The 45 tonnes of relief assistance which was received by the General Director of the Police Forces, Gen. Omar Al-Hudairi, Deputy Director of the Commission for Humanitarian Aid Abdel-Wahab Ahmed Mohamed, and the ambassador of Qatar to Sudan Ali bin Mohamed Al-Osairi included food materials, medicines, blankets and tents.

2. Ecumenical appeal for just and durable peace

Let There Be A Just and Durable Peace in the Sudan: An Appeal by the Bishops of the Catholic and Episcopal Churches of Sudan Nairobi, Kenya, August 17, 2001 We the Bishops of the Catholic and Episcopal Churches of the Sudan, gathered in Nairobi for a seminar, Pastoral Leadership and United Action in a Crisis Situation, from August 12 - 17 2001, moved by our Christian Faith and concerned by the immense suffering of all the Peoples of Sudan, because of the current civil war, appeal for an immediate end of the hostilities and the establishment of a just and durable peace in the Sudan.

We address our appeal to the Government of Sudan, the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement / Army (SPLM/A), the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), other warring parties, all Peoples of Sudan of every tribe and religion, the Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD) and other peacemakers including the IGAD Partners Forum (IPF), the United Nations, the African Union and international partners.

We also address our appeal to his Holiness Pope John Paul II and the Most Reverend and The Right Honourable Dr. George Carey, Archbishop of Canterbury, and to religious leaders around the world.

State of suffering

We are deeply concerned with the appalling human suffering in both the North and South of the country. Nearly three million people have died because of the war. Over six million have been internally displaced and millions more have fled the country. The economic situation has deteriorated to the extent that over 96 percent of the population is living below the poverty line.

In some areas, populations are being deliberately denied critically needed basic humanitarian assistance. The war has adversely affected particularly the most vulnerable: women, children and the elderly.

In order to sustain the war efforts, the warring parties conscript by force children of school age into military service, thus exposing them to grave harm, depriving them of any chance of education and jeopardising their future. Women and children are harassed and abused and the elderly are robbed of normal traditional care. Ordinary and traditional family life has collapsed and cultural traditions have broken down.

Large sections of the population have become dependent for their survival on humanitarian assistance. This assistance, though desperately needed, is however not an effective long-term solution to the crisis.

Given these and other heinous experiences of human suffering, we appeal for an immediate end of the war. A negotiated settlement, rather than military means is the only way to achieve a just and lasting peace.

Peace based on justice

Stopping the war is essential, but not sufficient for the establishment of a just and lasting peace. The root causes of the conflict must also be addressed, so that all Sudanese can enjoy their full rights in dignity.

This could be achieved by addressing the following:

- Affirmation of diversity in the national identity that ensures the equal treatment of all cultural, racial and religious groups in the public media and the educational and legal systems in order to promote peaceful coexistence.

- Power sharing by a participatory system of governance that ensures the full rights and participation of all people. Such a system should protect the states exclusive rights over their territories and provide for the sharing of agreed upon powers at the national level. This balance of powers must be configured to avoid the domination by any one group over another and ensure the full rights of all.

- Wealth sharing through an agreed upon formula between the states and national government to ensure balanced and equitable development.

Programme for peace:

Addressing the above three major concerns requires a concrete programme of action that includes the following:

- Affirmation of principles: We affirm the Declaration of Principles of the IGAD peace process, particularly in regards to the relationship between state and religion, the principle of self-determination, and the comprehensive cease-fire.

- Relationship between state and religion: The unity of the country and peace with justice cannot be achieved under Sharia Law in a country with a diversity of cultures and religions. Instead we call for religious freedom for all religious groups and the separation of religion and state.

- Comprehensive cease-fire: Upon the achievement of a negotiated settlement, a comprehensive cease-fire should be declared and internationally monitored.

Advocacy for justice and peace.

We call for:

a) Respect for human rights for all citizens

b) Peace building, reconciliation and forgiveness among the diverse cultural groups of the nation, including North - South, South - South and North -North initiatives

c) The co-operation of neighbouring countries, international organisations, and IGAD Partners Forum countries and all people of goodwill.

d) The constructive engagement of all national state stakeholders, including civil society groups and religious communities in particular.

e) Affirmation of the ongoing people-to-people reconciliation and peace process in the South and urge all parties to the conflict to engage and support seriously this process and any similar processes in the North. These grassroots efforts should be linked to the higher national political level.

f) Commitment to fostering genuine Christian - Muslim dialogue particularly at the local community level.

g) Affirmation and support of the Sudan Ecumenical Forum and its ongoing initiatives for peace.

h) Suspension of oil extraction until peace is achieved. Its continuation fuels the war, uproots civilian populations, and reinforces the existing imbalance in wealth sharing.

Conclusion

As believers in the one Creator, and sharing in a single humanity, we believe and hope that God will grant the Peoples of Sudan peace if we are willing to pray sincerely, to reconcile and bear one another's burdens.

For inquiries, contact,

The editor
Sudan Catholic Information Office (SCIO)
P.O Box 21102
Nairobi, Kenya
e-mail: SCIO@maf.or.ke
tel: 254-2-577616/ 577949/ 577595
fax 254-2-577327