Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir held talks in the Presidential Palace on Saturday with visiting special representative of the Chinese government Liu Guijin in which they exchanged views on the bilateral relations between the two countries, the Darfur issue as well as other problems.

 

At the beginning of the meeting, President al-Bashir termed his visit of President Hu Jintao in Sudan early this year as "a new milestone in the development history of the Sudanese-Chinese relations of friendship."

 

Thanking the sincere helps extended by the Chinese side for the social and economic developments in Sudan, the Sudanese president stressed Sudan's willingness to work together with the Chinese side to advance the cooperation between the two countries in various fields.

 

Al-Bashir noted that the Chinese government had been exerting enormous efforts and continuously playing a constructive role for helping resolve the Darfur issue, adding that the appointment of aspecial representative for Darfur proved again the concern of the Chinese government over the issue.

 

Expressing the willingness of the Sudanese government to facilitate the Chinese envoy's work, al-Bashir said that the Darfur region and the residents there had benefitted from the humanitarian assistances provided by the Chinese government, hoping that the Chinese side would offer more helps for the region.

 

The president also said that a recent agreement between the Sudanese government, the African Union (AU) and the United Nationson a hybrid UN-AU peacekeeping operation in Darfur had proved the true intentions of the government to actively cooperate with the international society for resolving the Darfur issue.

 

He noted that the humanitarian and security situations in Darfur had improved evidently due to the joint efforts of the Sudanese government and the other parties concerned.

 

Reiterating his government's desire to hold negotiations with the opposition groups which had not signed the Darfur Peace Agreement, the Sudanese president called on the international society to urge the non-signatories to join the peace process as soon as possible.

 

On his part, the Chinese envoy thanked the high assessment of the Chinese-Sudanese relations by President al-Bashir, and explained the consistent positions of the Chinese government over the Darfur issue.

 

Referring to the international general welcome of the recent announcement of the Sudanese government to accept the hybrid peacekeeping operation in Darfur, Liu expressed his government's appreciation for the efforts exerted actively by the Sudanese side and the other parties concerned to resolve the Darfur issue.

 

"The facts have proved that the consultation between the Sudanese government, the AU and the UN is an effective mechanism to solve the problem," Liu said, hoping that the international society would continue their efforts in the framework of this mechanism in order to get the Darfur issue resolved as soon as possible.

 

He also called on the international society to help the Sudanese government realize a further improvement of the humanitarian and security situation in Darfur and push the political process forward.

 

Earlier on Saturday, the Chinese official held a meeting with Ali Ahmed Kerti, the Sudanese minister of state for foreign affairs, on the Darfur issue and other problems of common concerns.

 

The Chinese envoy arrived in Khartoum Friday on his second visit in Sudan since his was appointed to the present post in May.

 

Sudan is the last leg of his African trip, during which he had visited South Africa, Ethiopia and Egypt.

 

(Xinhua News Agency June 25, 2007)