Zoellick meets with Garang, visits Darfur

US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick met with the leader of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM/SPLA) John Garang in the course of a tour carried out by the American official in Sudan.

The talks were held in Rombeik city, the headquarters of the movement to the south of Sudan, where Garang displayed his plan over the future of Sudan and how he intends to use donation to be provided by donor countries from the Oslo conference to rebuild Sudan, several days ago.

Zoellick called on each of the Sudanese government and SPLM to accelerate the implementation of items of the peace agreement signed between them in January this year. The talks also dealt with the Darfur crisis in light of Garang's commitments made repeatedly to make efforts to end the conflict there.

Following his talks with Sudanese officials in Khartoum on Friday, Zoellick renewed his country's position to that providing aid from the donor countries is linked to the readiness of the Sudanese government to respond to international demands concerning Darfur.

Zoellick's visit aims at enhancing the peace agreement in the south and pressuring Khartoum over Darfur where he headed on Friday. The American official will be visiting the refugees camps in the district to learn about the humanitarian conditions there and the efforts of the government to improve conditions and achieve security.

The leaders of rebels received Zoellick's visit by showing him the deteriorated conditions in Darfur, which he described as a big prison where famine is spread together with the lack of security.