Sudan’s Foreign Minister in London for talks

During his visit to London, Minister of Foreign Affairs Omar Gamareldin met with James Duddridge, the British Minister for African Affairs. Duddridge confirmed that the UK will honor its financial commitments made at the Berlin donor conference three months ago.

At this donor conference the international community pledged $1.8 billion to support economic reform in Sudan.

Minister Duddridge stated that Sudan is a very important country for the United Kingdom and that it is keen to enhance cooperation in various fields, especially investment. The two ministers also discussed cooperation on Sudan’s transition to democracy.

Earlier yesterday, Gamareldin met in London with Lord Tariq Ahmed, Member of the House of Lords and Minister of State at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (formerly known as the British Foreign Office). He has responsibilities, among other issues, regarding the United Nations and the Commonwealth.

Gamareldin emphasised the commitment of the Sudanese government to protect human rights. He said that the government has deployed thousands of soldiers to stop attacks on civilians in Darfur. These Sudanese joint military forces benefit from the positive experiences of the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), he said.

He also stated that the government is keen to prevent a vacuum in the transition process from the current UNAMID mission to the new UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS).

UNAMID will officially leave on December 31. A UNITAMS planning team arrived in Khartoum in early August to make preparations for the implementation of the mission’s mandate in cooperation with the Sudanese government.

Minister Gamareldin’s visit to Britain is part of a tour through Europe.

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