Mubarak, Annan on repercussions of the Darfur problem

Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak received a phone call last week from United Nations (UN) Secretary General Kofi Annan.

The phone contact focused on the latest developments on the Lebanese and the Palestinian arenas, along with the situation in the western Sudanese region of Darfur.

During the phone call, Mubarak posted Annan on the outcome of a six-way Arab-African summit to propel peace efforts in the Darfur crisis which he attended in Tripoli last Tuesday.

The two sides also tackled means of containing the repercussions of the Darfur problem for Sudan's ties with Chad and Central Africa.

Furthermore, President Hosni Mubarak and Sudanese Vice President Salva Kiir on Wednesday held talks on peace efforts in Darfur, the Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported.

Following the talks, Kiir said that he discussed with President Mubarak Khartoum government's efforts to solve the Darfur crisis, implementing the January 2006 peace agreement and border tensions between Sudan and Chad.

The Darfur conflict is spilling a dangerous mixture of refugees, rebels, militia and bandit raiders over Sudan's western borders into Chad and Central African Republic (CAR).

Kiir has urged President Mubarak to continue his efforts to effect a comprehensive reconciliation between all the Sudanese people, Presidential Spokesman Suleiman Awwad told MENA.

President Mubarak and Kiir reviewed the outcome of a six-way summit that was held in Libya on Tuesday to find an African solution to the Darfur conflict, Awwad said.

The Presidents of Egypt, Sudan, Chad, CAR, Eritrea and Libya agreed to support the African presence in Darfur, AFP said.

President Mubarak has stressed that reaching an urgent peaceful settlement to the Darfur conflict would have a positive impact on Sudan's stability and development, Awwad said.

Kiir, who was received by Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, also urged President Mubarak to continue Egypt's support for development and infrastructure projects in Sudan, Awwad said.

Egypt is helping Sudan implement education, health, agriculture and power generating projects, he added.

Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and Kiir signed a series of cooperation pacts by which Egypt will implement irrigation projects in south Sudan."

Egypt has earmarked LE200 million to implement the first phase of these projects, which will include building four power stations in the south of the country under the supervision of the Ministry of Electricity," Nazif told reporters.

Later in the day, President Mubarak met with Bahraini Interior Minister Sheikh Raed bin Abdullah bin Khalifa, who is on an official visit to Egypt, Awwad said.

The meeting dealt with the present status of Egyptian-Bahraini security cooperation and the latest developments in the Gulf region, the Presidential Spokesman added.