From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Mon Apr 06 2009 - 07:38:29 EDT
U.S. senator to make rare Darfur visit - diplomat
Mon Apr 6, 2009 8:29am GMT
* Kerry to lead U.S. delegation to Darfur
* Possible sign of U.S. desire to engage with Khartoum
* Visit to follow tour by U.S. special envoy
By Andrew Heavens
KHARTOUM, April 6 (Reuters) - The chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign
Relations Committee, John Kerry, will lead a delegation to Sudan's Darfur
region, U.S. officials said on Monday, in a possible sign of a growing
willingness to engage with Khartoum.
"This is significant," a U.S. diplomatic source told Reuters. "It is the
first Congressional delegation to Sudan we have had since 2007. Like the
U.S. envoy's current visit, it is a new tack."
The new U.S. special envoy to Sudan, Scott Gration, who is currently touring
the country, made an unusually positive statement on his arrival in Khartoum
last week, telling reporters he was looking for friendship and cooperation
from the Sudanese government.
Gration said he had arrived "with my hands open", echoing a phrase used by
President Barack Obama during his inauguration that was widely seen as an
offer of greater engagement with the Islamic world.
U.S. officials said the appointment of Gration marked an attempt to find new
ways to deal with the Sudanese government. Gration, a retired Air Force
general who grew up in Africa, is a close ally of Obama's and reports
directly to the president, they added.
The U.S. diplomatic source said Kerry, a Democrat, would lead a
Congressional delegation to Darfur, and would meet senior Sudanese officials
in Khartoum in the middle of next week.
The state-run Sudanese Media Centre said the U.S. Congressional delegation
would visit Sudan for three days next week.
Sudan traditionally had a stormy relationship with the United States.
President Bill Clinton imposed wide-ranging sanctions on the country,
accusing it of supporting terrorism.
Relations have been strained further by the conflict in Darfur, which both
Obama and his predecessor George W. Bush have called genocide.
Gration sounded one note of criticism over the weekend, saying he was
concerned Darfur was on the brink of a deeper humanitarian crisis following
a decision by the Sudanese government to expel foreign aid groups
Sudan's president Omar Hassan al-Bashir expelled 13 foreign aid groups and
shut down three local organisations last month, accusing them of helping the
International Criminal Court build up a war crimes case against him.
The Hague-based court has issued an arrest warrant for Bashir, accusing him
of masterminding war crimes in Darfur.
International experts say at least 200,000 people have been killed and more
than 2.7 million driven from their homes in almost six years of ethnic and
politically driven fighting in Darfur. Khartoum says 10,000 people have
died. (Editing by Giles Elgood)
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