DATE=3/7/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=SUDAN / U-S (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-259922
BYLINE=SCOTT BOBB
DATELINE=CAIRO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
/// EDS: Johnston is to leave Sudan on
Thursday ///
INTRO: In Sudan, hundreds of students from the war-
ravaged south have demonstrated in Khartoum, demanding
greater autonomy for southern Sudan. V-O-A Middle
East Correspondent Scott Bobb reports the students
presented a petition to the U-S special envoy to Sudan
during his six-day visit to the country.
TEXT: The students chanted slogans calling for an end
to Islamic law and petitioned for self-determination
for the south, where one-and-one-half-million people
have died in the past 17 years because of famine and
civil war.
U-S special envoy Harry Johnston told them he would
take their concerns back to the U-S president.
Mr. Johnston met with Sudanese President Omar al-
Bashir Monday night and reportedly raised U-S concerns
that include the war in the south, human rights
abuses, and alleged government support for
international terrorism.
The government-owned newspaper, al-Anbaa, Tuesday
quoted President Bashir as saying Sudan wants a
constructive dialogue with the United States based on
mutual understanding and non-interference in each
other's internal affairs.
The Sudanese president reportedly said the U-S
government could play an important role in bringing
peace to Sudan.
Mr. Johnston met twice with Sudan's foreign minister,
who called the visit an important first step toward
improving relations between the two countries. He
also met with Sudanese opposition leaders, who said
they told him the government still holds political
prisoners and represses political dissidents.
During a news conference, Mr. Johnston told reporters
he urged the Sudanese government to improve its human
rights record and allow humanitarian aid to reach
people in the war zones. He denied the U-S government
supports the partition of Sudan.
Mr. Johnston is the highest-ranking U-S official to
visit Sudan since U-S missiles destroyed a
pharmaceutical factory outside Khartoum two years ago.
The attack was in retaliation for the bombings at the
U-S embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The alleged
mastermind of the bombings once lived in Sudan and,
according to the U-S government, still has substantial
financial interests there.
Relations between Sudan and the U-S government
deteriorated steadily from 1989, when the Bashir
government came to power in a military coup and
installed an Islamic state. (Signed)
NEB/SB/JWH/JP
07-Mar-2000 12:27 PM EDT (07-Mar-2000 1727 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
