al-Ayam: Dutch mediation between Khartoum, Asmara

The Dutch minister of foreign affairs Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has unveiled that his country has started an official mediation between Khartoum and Asmara to end the conflict arising between them following the recent aggression against Eastern Sudan and avoiding the eruption of a comprehensive war in the region.

In a statement to the Sudanese daily al-Ayam issued on Monday before he had left Khartoum for Asmara on Sunday evening, Scheffer said that his country is making contacts between Sudan, Eritrea and Ethiopia in order to halt the conflict currently taking place between Sudan and Eritrea.

Shiffer explained that he had also made contacts with the Ethiopian government on Sunday relating to halting military escalation on the Eritrean- Sudanese borders.

He said that Holland is very much concerned with what is taking place in the regional conflicts and that the European Union plays an active role in settling differences.

For her part, the Dutch minister Maria van der Hoeven said that her country's delegation which left Khartoum on Sunday carried a message from the Sudanese government to the government of Asmara. She indicated that the matter relates to complexities emerged between the two countries.