Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Uthman Ismai'il said on 16 September that the new US special envoy to Sudan, John Danforth, had postponed a visit to the country because of last week's terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, AFP reported. Isma'il was quoted as saying by AFP that Sudan had been notified by the US charge d'affaires, Raymond Brown, of the postponement of a visit scheduled for November by former Senator Danforth, appointed to lead a US initiative to end Sudan's 18-year civil war.
US President George W. Bush announced the appointment of Danforth, an ordained Episcopalian minister from Missouri, on 6 September, saying it signalled "to the rest of the world our interest in the subject [of war in Sudan]". The Sudanese government had said it would work with the envoy, so long as Washington pursued an impartial policy. Khartoum has criticised previous US administrations for their policy on Sudan's civil war, claiming they have been biased towards southern rebel groups.
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