‘Sudan not notified of US visit suspension’: Nafie

Khartoum’s decision to halt the flow of South Sudan’s oil through its pipeline infrastructure has prompted the USA to suspend an invitation for Sudan’s presidential aide Dr Nafie Ali Nafie to visit Washington DC. However, Nafie says that no official notification of the suspension has reached Khartoum. The proposed visit by Nafie, who is a senior advisor to Sudan’s President Omar Al Bashir, has met with resistance in the USA and resulted in some controversy for the Obama administration, especially in light of Nafie’s background as former Head of Security in Sudan. The Director of the Office of the Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan at the US State Department and a major mover behind the proposed visit, Larry André, explained that the March decision to invite Nafie to Washington “was not made with any illusions regarding his background, but with the idea of trying to do all we can to end these conflicts”. André: “A caveat was expressed to Khartoum that the visit could only take place in the context of Sudan implementing its cooperation agreements with South Sudan. As of earlier this month, Sudan ceased implementing those agreements. As long as the government of Khartoum suspends the implementation of the agreements, we are suspending this invitation,” he explained. In a statement to the press, Nafie denied any knowledge of the suspension. He asserted that “the invitation came from the US side to narrow the differences in our views, but the programme of the visit has not yet been agreed. “If the visit is postponed, the National Congress Party will lose nothing because it was not requested by Sudan,” said Nafie, stressing however that “we are ready to communicate and make consultations”. File photo: Dr Nafie Ali Nafie