Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir held talks in the Presidential
Palace on Saturday with visiting special representative of the
Chinese government Liu Guijin in which they exchanged views on the
bilateral relations between the two countries, the Darfur issue as
well as other problems.
At the beginning of the meeting, President al-Bashir termed his
visit of President Hu Jintao in Sudan early this year as "a new
milestone in the development history of the Sudanese-Chinese
relations of friendship."
Thanking the sincere helps extended by the Chinese side for the
social and economic developments in Sudan, the Sudanese president
stressed Sudan's willingness to work together with the Chinese side
to advance the cooperation between the two countries in various
fields.
Al-Bashir noted that the Chinese government had been exerting
enormous efforts and continuously playing a constructive role for
helping resolve the Darfur issue, adding that the appointment of
aspecial representative for Darfur proved again the concern of the
Chinese government over the issue.
Expressing the willingness of the Sudanese government to
facilitate the Chinese envoy's work, al-Bashir said that the Darfur
region and the residents there had benefitted from the humanitarian
assistances provided by the Chinese government, hoping that the
Chinese side would offer more helps for the region.
The president also said that a recent agreement between the
Sudanese government, the African Union (AU) and the United
Nationson a hybrid UN-AU peacekeeping operation in Darfur had
proved the true intentions of the government to actively cooperate
with the international society for resolving the Darfur issue.
He noted that the humanitarian and security situations in Darfur
had improved evidently due to the joint efforts of the Sudanese
government and the other parties concerned.
Reiterating his government's desire to hold negotiations with
the opposition groups which had not signed the Darfur Peace
Agreement, the Sudanese president called on the international
society to urge the non-signatories to join the peace process as
soon as possible.
On his part, the Chinese envoy thanked the high assessment of
the Chinese-Sudanese relations by President al-Bashir, and
explained the consistent positions of the Chinese government over
the Darfur issue.
Referring to the international general welcome of the recent
announcement of the Sudanese government to accept the hybrid
peacekeeping operation in Darfur, Liu expressed his government's
appreciation for the efforts exerted actively by the Sudanese side
and the other parties concerned to resolve the Darfur issue.
"The facts have proved that the consultation between the
Sudanese government, the AU and the UN is an effective mechanism to
solve the problem," Liu said, hoping that the international society
would continue their efforts in the framework of this mechanism in
order to get the Darfur issue resolved as soon as possible.
He also called on the international society to help the Sudanese
government realize a further improvement of the humanitarian and
security situation in Darfur and push the political process
forward.
Earlier on Saturday, the Chinese official held a meeting with
Ali Ahmed Kerti, the Sudanese minister of state for foreign
affairs, on the Darfur issue and other problems of common
concerns.
The Chinese envoy arrived in Khartoum Friday on his second visit
in Sudan since his was appointed to the present post in May.
Sudan is the last leg of his African trip, during which he had
visited South Africa, Ethiopia and Egypt.
(Xinhua News Agency June 25, 2007)
