DATE=8/14/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=EGYPT / SUDAN (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-252797
BYLINE=LISA BRYANT
DATELINE=CAIRO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: A senior Sudanese official has denied reports
that the Sudanese government dropped chemical weapons
on rebel-held areas in southern Sudan. From Cairo,
Lisa Bryant reports that Sudan's Ambassador to Egypt,
Ahmed Abdel Halim Mohammed, believes the reports are
part of a larger effort to undermine peace talks
between the Sudanese government and opposition
parties.
TEXT: Ambassador Abdel Halim says he is optimistic
that recent efforts by Egypt and Libya to bring the
Sudanese government and opposition parties together
for talks will succeed. In an interview with V-O-A
(Saturday), the Ambassador said he believed such talks
could take place by the end of the year.
The ambassador says he is currently talking with
members of the opposition in Cairo, including former
Prime Minister Sadiq el-Mahdi, who leads the popular
Umma Party.
Sudan has been waging an on-and-off civil war for
decades. The war originally pitted the Muslim north
against the country's mostly Christian and animist
south. But in recent years, opposition factions from
other parts of Sudan have joined the effort to topple
the government of Sudanese President Omar el-Beshir.
The years of fighting have killed an estimated two-
million people.
Some members of the Sudanese opposition, many of whom
are based in Cairo, have expressed doubts about recent
peace initiatives. They say they do not trust the
Sudanese government, and they say they see no reason
to change this assessment.
Ambassador Abdel Halim accuses the United States and
some non-governmental organizations working in
southern Sudan of trying to undermine peace efforts.
He says efforts to disrupt peace talks included what
he calls false reports that Sudan used chemical
weapons in its war against opposition fighters.
The United Nations recently said it would investigate
charges that the government dropped chemical weapons
during two bombing raids on southern Sudan in July.
But Mr. Abdel Halim says Sudan does not possess
chemical or biological weapons. He adds that his
government would welcome a United Nations
investigation into the matter.
///ABDEL HALIM ACT///
Take it from me -- and I'm saying this on behalf
of the government -- the Sudan is ready to
receive a commission appointed by the Security
Council to investigate the accusation that it
has used chemical weapons. But at the same time
they have to investigate both this accusation
and the Shifa bombing incident. I think this a
very fair, I think this is a very, very fair
request. Why investigate us at the whims of a
great power, and some N-G-Os that are toeing
their line, and they neither give proof of
their claim or accept an international committee
or commission to come and investigate.
/// END ACT ///
Last year, the U-S bombed the Shifa pharmaceutical
plant outside the Sudanese capital of Khartoum,
following attacks on two American embassies in East
Africa. The United States said the plant was
producing chemical weapons, a charge that Sudan has
vigorously denied.
The ambassador says Sudan is also skeptical about a
U-S coordinator for Sudan, which has been proposed by
the Clinton administration. He says the Sudanese
government fears the United States is trying to force
different countries mediating Sudanese peace talks to
adopt an American agenda. (Signed)
NEB/LB/ALW/WTW
14-Aug-1999 12:46 PM EDT (14-Aug-1999 1646 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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