Foreign minister welcomes US humanitarian mission

The Sudanese Foreign Minister, Mustafa Uthman Isma’il, has welcomed the continuing visit of the US Special Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan, Andrew Natsios, to the country as “a positive step towards discussing bilateral issues”, SUNA news agency reported on Monday. Isma’il said he hoped Sudanese-American relations on other issues could be pursued in the same way, “through visits and getting acquainted with the conditions before taking decisions”, it said.

Isma’il said he had discussed humanitarian conditions with Natsios, and affirmed the Sudanese government’s readiness for cooperation with the US as long as transparency and credibility for mutual relations existed, the report added. The foreign minister said he hoped the lifting of a ban on entry visas to American officials would promote cooperation between the two countries. Sudan also considered the rejection by the US of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) call for halting oil production in the country as a condition of it joining peace talks to be a step in the right direction, SUNA reported.

Natsios planned to evaluate the severity of the drought in northern Sudan and the conflict in southern Sudan, where he would also review the prospects for development, according to a press release from the US Department of State. Natsios also wanted to raise the visibility of US and European involvement in humanitarian assistance in Sudan, and to talk with European donors about the best methods to provide assistance, it said. Finally, he wished to emphasise the new US administration’s policy of humanitarian neutrality, which provided for assistance to be given where it was needed, regardless of the reason for the need, the State Department added.