Scott Gration, US President Obama's envoy to Sudan, left Cairo yesterday after a three-day tour, including Qatar. Gration held talks with a number of Egyptian officials and the Arab League on the latest developments in Darfur and the Egyptian and Arab stances towards the crisis in the Sudanese region. Ahmed Abul-Gheit, Minister of Foreign Affairs, received Gration last Thursday. Ambassador Hossam Zaki, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman, said: "The meeting comes within the framework of the Egyptian-US continued consultation and coordination on the Sudanese issue, as the US knows well the Egyptian impact on the Sudanese issue."
"During the meeting, Gration made it clear that the US is always interested in coordinating with Egypt and knowing the Egyptian vision in this regard. It also pays much attention to Egypt's assessment to all the steps taken to push the political process and settle the situation in Sudan." Abul-Gheit and Gration reviewed Egypt's vision with regard to the situation in Sudan, either with regards to the North and South issue, which receives great interest from Egypt, or with regard to the situation in Darfur with all its dimensions and developments. Zaki confirmed that the Egyptian vision in this regard is based on the importance of giving all Sudanese parties a chance to participate in a new credible political process so that Sudan can restore stability and peace in this important region.
During his talks with the U.S. envoy, Abul-Gheit focused on the special situation between the North and the South, as it faces many difficulties. Egypt attaches great importance to overcoming any difficulties and pushing the two sides to take advantage of all existing mechanisms to reach political solutions, Zaki said, stressing that this was clear from the proposal made by Abul-Gheit during his talks with the U.S. envoy. There was an agreement on continued Egyptian-American dialogue in this regard, he said, expressing hope to see a dialogue at the level of experts from the two sides on these points for further coordination between Egypt and the United States to achieve stability and peace in Sudan.
"The two sides have also agreed on the importance of working to contain the situation between Sudan and Chad because this situation is an essential reason behind the stability in Darfur," Zaki said, stressing that defusing this tension will be in the interest of the region's stability and peace.
