Sudanese First Vice-President to London Sunday

Sudanese First Vice-President to London Sunday

Oct 30, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — Sudanese First vice-president will start one-week visit to the United Kingdom where he is expected to hold talks about peace implementation and Darfur crisis.
The First Vice - President and President of Government of Southern Sudan, Salva Kiir Mayadrit, is due to leave Sunday for London on a several-day visit to Britain.
Kiir would meet in London with the Prime Minister Tony Blair, Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett and International Development Secretary Hilary Benn.
Kiir is expected to discuss implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed between the SPLM and the Sudanese government in January 2005. The question of the pledged international aid to southern Sudan construction will be debated with British official.
Sources indicated that Tony Blair is eager to discuss Darfur crisis with the Sudanese First Vice President who has a different stance on UN forces deployment in Darfur.
Salva Kiir will hold a meeting with the Sudanese community in Britain.
The visit is the first of its kind since assuming his post.
Chad says Sudan airforce bombards eastern towns

Oct30, 2006 (N’DJAMENA) — Chad on Saturday accused Sudan’s air force of bombarding four towns along its eastern frontier and said its armed forces were ready to repel further attacks.
President Idriss Deby’s government said Sudan on Friday bombed the towns of Bahai, Tine, Karyari and Bamina, destroying homes and sowing panic among residents. It did not give any information on casualties.
"The government expects the African Union ... and the United Nations to condemn this bombardment of peaceful Chadian citizens and for them to work to stop the repeated Sudanese attacks against Chad," a statement from the government spokesman Hourmadji Moussa Doumgor said.
"In the face of this escalation of Sudanese aggression, all necessary steps have been taken to permit security and defence forces to carry out their responsibilities," he added.
The accusation came only days after Chad accused Sudan of backing an incursion this week by a heavily-armed rebel convoy deep into its territory.
The rebels of the newly-formed Union of Forces for Democracy and Development (UFDD) briefly seized two towns as they penetrated into central Chad, before retreating eastward. The government says they have sought refuge in Sudan.