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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Wed Jan 13 2010 - 12:54:09 EST
Special Envoy Gration on Comprehensive Peace Agreement in Sudan
Gration updates on the situation in Sudan, including upcoming elections
13 January 2010
FOREIGN PRESS CENTER BRIEFING WITH SPECIAL ENVOY FOR SUDAN SCOTT GRATION
THE WASHINGTON FOREIGN PRESS CENTER, WASHINGTON, D.C.
TOPIC: SUDAN: THE FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE COMPREHENSIVE PEACE AGREEMENT
MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2010 AT 9:00 A.M. EST
MODERATOR: Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Welcome to the Foreign Press
Center. Thank you for coming out on this frigid morning.
Today’s a very special day for us, not only because we have Special Envoy
Gration coming to talk to us, but also because it’s the first time that we
will be DVCing with the South African media hub. It’s an important occasion.
We’re getting information out to the source very rapidly. And I’m just very
pleased to be able to share this moment with all of you.
So a few ground rules before we start. You’re all here. We also have a
connection with South Africa. Once General Gration has made his remarks, we
will go directly to South Africa to have their questions posed for us. Once
we finish with them, we’ll come back here to Washington and you will be able
to ask your questions. Immediately after, we will again DVC with New York.
As usual, make sure that your phones off, please, or, at least, on vibrator.
And when you ask your questions, state your name and your news organization.
Again, we would like to – the Foreign Press Center would like to welcome
General Gration, Special Envoy for the President for Sudan.
MR. GRATION: Good morning. Thank you very much. It really is a pleasure to
be here and to have this opportunity to get the word out on what we’ve been
doing in Sudan. You know, it’s been five years since the CPA was signed. We
just celebrated that anniversary on the 9th of January. It’s the longest –
or it’s an agreement that ended the longest running war in Africa, the civil
war between the North and the South.
Since 2005, the National Congress Party and the Sudanese People Liberation
Movement have made significant progress toward peace. The northern troops
pulled out of the South. The ceasefire has largely held. The government of
national unity was formed in Khartoum and the regional government of
Southern Sudan was created in Juba. The oil wealth has been shared, and the
historical grazing rights have been honored. The parties have reached
agreements on the border with the disputed area, what we call Abyei. They’ve
passed legislation to prepare for the national and legislative elections,
the popular consultations in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile areas, and the
two referenda on self-determination in Abyei and in Southern Sudan.
At the same time, peace remains incomplete. There’s not been enough progress
on the democratic transformation that was envisioned in the CPA. Violence in
the South is too high. And insecurity and lawlessness in Darfur remain much
too high also.
But over the last five years, the agreement has weathered a lot of
challenges and has overcome some major hurdles. The parties should be
commended for their commitment to frank dialogue and to peaceful engagement.
The greatest challenges, however, lie ahead. Continued strong leadership
from the parties is imperative. Sudan will face the first national election
in 24 years this April. And while the record turnout for registration was a
testament to Sudan’s strong desire for democracy, we remain concerned about
the ongoing restrictions to the freedom of speech, of assembly, and of the
press.
We will continue to support Sudan’s elections, for they’re an important CPA
milestone toward democratic transformation. They are a key stepping stone to
credible referenda in January of 2011. Just one year from now, the people of
Southern Sudan and Abyei will choose whether to remain part of Sudan or to
separate and form an independent country. This will be Africa’s first
country in nearly 20 years.
Credible referenda are vital. They should take place on time and their
outcomes must be respected. It’s imperative that the parties and the
international community begin to grapple with those tough issues that will
result from the upcoming vote. We must all work diligently together in the
next year to prepare Sudan and the entire region for the potential scenarios
that will resume.
We urge both the NCP and the SPLM to continue to make compromises and
equipment – excuse me, and commitments required to build confidence and to
achieve a lasting peace in the region. We recognize that the problems of
Sudan must be solved by the Sudanese themselves, but that the rest of the
world should pitch in. And that’s why we’re working so closely with the
other envoys to Sudan, with international groups like the troika. We’re also
working with Sudan’s neighbors to find lasting solutions within a regional
context. The United States is committed to peace in Sudan, and we will
provide the leadership and support that’s required to achieve that
objective.
At this time, I’d like to open it up for your questions.
MODERATOR: And we will go to South Africa.
MODERATOR: We have 20 minutes on the schedule for questions from South
Africa, so if you all just want to raise your hands and I’ll select someone,
you come up and just identify yourself and your organization, please. Do you
want to start?
QUESTION: Good morning, sir. My name’s Andrei (inaudible) of Media 24 in
Johannesburg. Could you just comment on where in your view the Mbeki
process, is President Mbeki process, is with respect to getting Sudan into a
position to actually hold the election at this time?
MR. GRATION: Thank you, Andrei (ph) and appreciate your question. The Mbeki
high-level panel, I believe, will be critical to peace and lasting security
in Sudan. President Mbeki comes with high regard and credibility. He’s put a
great deal of effort into learning about the situation not only in Darfur,
but also in Southern Sudan. He has relationships with leaders in the region
and with the two parties, so he’s in a perfect position to provide the
leadership and direction and facilitation to fully implement the
Comprehensive Peace Agreement in this last year and also to get an agreement
in Darfur.
We believe that President Mbeki’s efforts and the high-level panel’s efforts
on accountability and justice will be critical, because we know that there
cannot be a lasting peace in Darfur unless there’s accountability and
justice. We also understand that he comes with the mandate from the African
Union, and that is so very important. And so our plan is to continue to work
with President Mbeki and his group. We have been in constant contact with
him over the past six to eight months. We have regular telephone calls, and
I’ve met personally with him on numerous occasions. We will continue to work
together because it is only in the spirit of cooperation that we can achieve
a lasting peace in Sudan.
QUESTION: Hello. My name is Donna Bryson. I’m with the Associated Press. I’m
wondering, first, if you could discuss what you see as the roots of the
continuing violence in Southern Sudan – what you said, the violence is too
high. And what is being done on the part of the international community to
bring that under control?
And secondly, can you give me your opinion on whether you think the
referendum will happen and why or why not?
MR. GRATION: Yes, thank you, Donna. First on the rising violence, we are
very concerned about the rising violence that we’re seeing in Southern
Sudan. I know there’s been a great deal of allegations that who’s behind it
and what is causing it. But the bottom line is we need to move forward. We
need to come up with solutions. There needs to be more effort and conflict
mitigation and getting out in front of the problem and not just reacting to
it. Right now, it seems like we hear about problems after they’ve already
occurred, that 139 died last week.
What we need to do is get out in front of this to prevent these kinds of
problems, to resolve the issues between the tribes, between the communities
that are fighting. We need to figure out the source of the guns and
ammunition and equipment, and we need to reduce those. We need to work with
the Government of Southern Sudan to increase the agility and mobility of
their security forces. There needs to be more communications – excuse me,
more roads, more transportation, and more ability for security forces to get
to these problem areas in a timely manner.
We will work with the Government of Southern Sudan to bring about these
changes. And we will try to work with them to quickly come up with solutions
so we can stop this trend. Because as you know, there’s been already roughly
2,500 people killed in a year. That’s much too much, and we need to stop
this right now.
Let me just – I forgot the second part of your question. It was about the
referendum, whether I think it will take place? I believe that the referenda
will take place. I believe that right now I see political will. I see
cooperation and I see continued commitment on both sides to have this take
place.
One important step that must take place first is the election. We believe
that the election is a very important piece of implementation of the CPA
that demonstrates the spirit and the letter of the CPA, that brings about a
political transformation and a democratization process that is critical. We
are very encouraged that almost 79 percent of the people of Sudan registered
to vote; that’s four out of five people of the 20 million eligible voters,
16 million came out to register. That’s a tremendous thing, and we believe
that we should encourage that kind of participation in the democratic
process.
We believe it’s important in the election to have proper administration
logistics, that we get the adequate voter education out there that we have
security and transparent processes. Because it is these same processes that
will be used for the election that will be required to ensure that we have a
credible referenda, both in Abyei and in Southern Sudan. And we need a
credible referenda so that, when it is complete, the people of Southern
Sudan and Abyei will be able to say, “Yes, my will was demonstrated in my
ballot, and that ballot has been accepted.”
The people of the North will say, “Yes, these people from these regions
demonstrated their will, and we’ll honor that.” And the international
community will say, “Yes, this was a credible referenda and we will honor
the results and support the decision of the people.” That’s what we’re
trying to achieve. That’s why we think the election is so critically
important, and it’s important that it be held on time so that we don’t get
mixed up with the rains and other problems that will happen if we delay past
April. And that’s why it’s important that registration for the referenda
start in July. And that’s why it’s important that in January of 2011, both
referenda take place. Next question.
MODERATOR: We have a question.
QUESTION: Francois (ph) from Bloomberg. I have – I wanted to get a reaction
from you concerning the statement that was made by Oxfam and the other eight
agencies a couple of days ago, who said that the CPA was on the brink of
collapse. I mean you obviously think it’s not on the brink of collapse. Why
do you think it’s not? And concerning the referendum, do you think that,
given the tensions between the NCP and the SPLM, that post-referendum issues
should be discussed before or after these elections, as a, you know, should
we wait now for a few months until these elections have taken place to carry
on discussing what’ll happen after the referendum? Thanks.
MR. GRATION: I’ll take the second part of your question first, and that is
about the post-2011 issues. It’s my view that we need to start right now to
work on these issues. The international community has provided some
technical assistance, but it’s up to the parties right now to start talking
about and agreeing to the outcome on these very, very tough issues. And I
believe that it has to be resolved before the referendum takes place. So we
only have a year, and within that year we have the campaigning, the election
cycle, so I believe that we need to come up with a process now so that we
can work with the parties and the parties can work between themselves to
come up with solutions on citizenship, on the North-South border
demarcation, on the sharing of resources – and that includes the oil –
grazing rights, the Nile waters. There’s so many issues that have to be
decided that we cannot wait until the referendum is here, until the people
have made their will known. It will be too late at that point. These must be
done right now, and we’re encouraging the process to start and we are in
constant communication with the parties to help them come up with a process
and a methodology to get these talks started.
In terms of why I’m optimistic, sure I know there’s challenges ahead and
sure we’re disappointed that there’s things that should have been done and
could have been done that have not been done, and we will continue to urge
the parties to make the commitment and to have the political will and the
leadership to resolve these tough issues that have not been resolved as of
yet. And these issues include who’s going to vote in Abyei and other tough
issues that have to be decided even before we get to the post-2011 issues.
But I am optimistic because I’ve seen progress. I just – take a look at what
happened this last week as Dacharazi (ph) went over to Chad, and what
happened in the latter part of December when Foreign Minister Faki came to
Khartoum.
The thawing of relations between Chad and Sudan are critical, and these next
months of confidence-building, as we look at implementation of the Dakar
agreement and border monitoring, will be absolutely critical to the future
stability and security in Darfur. As we come up with solutions that involve
the JEM, the Justice and Equality Movement, that demobilize the Sudan-backed
Chadian rebels, these solutions will bring more peace and stability to
Darfur. And we’re very, very encouraged at the initiative between Chad and
Sudan to resolve these longstanding issues. As you all recall, it’s not that
long ago when fighting was actually taking place, when Chadian rebels went
across the border into Chad on the fourth of May, when rebels threatened
within a mile of N’Djamena’s presidential palace, and within 13 kilometers
in Omdurman of threatening the presidential facilities in Khartoum. This was
only a little while ago, and yet today we’re seeing a thawing of relations.
So that is a tremendous progress, in my view.
The second thing was Abyei. In 2008, we saw the city or the town burn down.
Fifty-thousand residents had to flee south. On the 22nd of August, the
ruling from The Hague, the Court of Arbitration, came down. And that was
able to come down in a peaceful way because the SPLM and the NCP came
together and put out a joint press program. They put out a joint task force
that helped brief the leaders and the people on what was going to happen. I
saw that 70 traditional leaders were brought to Khartoum. Many of them went
on to The Hague for the ruling.
This kind of cooperation, this kind of working together, this kind of
grappling with the tough issues that result in peace, is at the foundation
of what the CPA is about. And it’s because we’ve seen Chad-Sudan, Abyei, the
registration, the passing of all the laws prior to the end of last year, the
two referenda, the Popular Consultations Law, the National Security Act, the
Trade Union Law, and others – this came after lots of hard negotiation, a
lot of long meetings and late nights. But we saw them working together to
achieve a solution, an agreement that could be implemented. It’s this kind
of effort that gives me hope that we can achieve the democratic process,
that we can have a credible election, and that we can have a referendum on
time. That’s why I’m optimistic. But I’m not naïve in knowing that it’s not
going to be tough. It will be tough, it’s going to demand dedication on the
part of the parties, and it surely will involve work from all the
international community to achieve the end that we all seek, and that is a
better future for the people of the Sudan.
QUESTION: Hello, General Gration, my name is Naos Hume from the South
African Broadcasting Corporation. With all the positive things that you have
said with regard to the peace movement, where does President Umar al- Bashir
fit in, particularly considering that there is a possible arrest warrant out
for him in any country that is willing to do so? And in that equation, do
you expect the African Union to be supportive of possibly arresting another
African president with a view to what has already occurred with the
president of Liberia, Charles Taylor, who is now sitting at The Hague?
MR. GRATION: Yes, really, we’ll leave the decision of the African Union to
them. I will just say that from our point of view, we believe that any
solution in Sudan, especially in Darfur, where there were mass atrocities
and people need to have restitution and justice, we believe that any
long-term solution will have to have accountability and will have to have a
component of justice. The details are still being worked out. President
Mbeki and the high-level panel have proposed some options of courts and
hybrid courts, and we support the ICC and have urged the Sudanese to put
forth the information that the ICC is requesting.
MODERATOR: South Africa, last question, please.
QUESTION: David Smith of The Guardian newspaper from the UK. What do you
think, in your own view, would be the implications of a yes vote in the
referendum? What would it mean for resources such as oil? What would it mean
for neighboring countries? Would it be stabilizing or destabilizing?
MR. GRATION: Yes, David, it’s a question that we’re all concerned with, and
one that we spend a lot of time working on. Obviously, birthing of a nation
is tough in any situation. It’s especially tough when you look at the
history of Sudan. Since independence, the country has had wars for almost 40
years. The CPA ended 22 years of a civil war between the north and the
south. So there’s a legacy here, a history here that makes birthing a new
nation tough. The other thing that is a factor is that much of the
infrastructure is run by nongovernmental agencies right now.
And over the past five years while the south has done a great job in being
able to set up an autonomous government at the national – or at their
southern level and also in their states, there’s more that must be done to
set up a system of governance, to set up the social infrastructure, to come
up with other ways of earning wealth besides just oil, whether they be
industry, agribusiness, ecotourism. These are yet to be explored.
Just things like education – when you’re dealing with a population that at
best is 15 to 20 percent literate, when you’re dealing with a healthcare
system that is not coordinated, that does not reach all the citizens, these
are issues that have to be dealt with. And so we all must work together to
help Sudan have as best start as it can if it decides to become independent.
And this will mean that it’s going to take a lot of effort on behalf of the
diaspora, on behalf of the neighboring countries and the international
community to ensure that this country is birthed successfully and that it
can be sustainable.
We believe it’s possible, but we’re under no illusions that it won’t be very
difficult. And that’s why we are working now to resolve the issues of
post-2011, to grapple with the outcomes and the possibilities and the
scenarios that could result from a vote for independence. We believe that
right now, we have to start thinking about these issues. We believe that
right now, we have to do the requisite training, that right now, we have to
start building the infrastructures that will make southern Sudan successful
if it decides to become independent.
This is a tough challenge, but it’s reality. It could happen on the 9th of
July of 2011. That means we only have 18 months to prepare for this
eventuality, and we have no option but to succeed. If we don’t succeed, the
ramifications in terms of civil war, in terms of refugees, displacement, and
other disastrous consequences are so dire, it’s hard to imagine. Therefore,
we have really no option but to dedicate ourselves anew to push in every way
we can to ensure that if the Sudanese decide to become independent, that we
do everything we can to ensure they’re successful – a successful state for
themselves, for Sudan, and for the region.
MODERATOR: Thank you, South Africa. We go to Washington now. Yes, please,
Brian.
QUESTION: I’m Brian Beary. I’m from Europolitics, a European affairs news
daily based in Brussels. I believe you were in Brussels recently discussing
with the EU and what they could do. I’m just wondering, could you tell us a
little bit about what you see Europe’s role in this? And just going back a
little bit to the question on the International Criminal Court, I mean, is
this a factor at all in the north-south issue? I know that the EU, for
example, is always very pro-International Criminal Court, and I’m just
wondering if that issue has come up in the conversations with respect to the
north-south issue.
MR. GRATION: Thank you very much. We believe that the EU has a very
important role in Sudan now and in the future. In terms of the near term, as
we prepare for the elections, we would encourage the EU to provide the
election monitors that have been discussed, upwards of 300, that will allow
us to have the transparency, to have the monitoring that we need to ensure a
credible election. We really are requesting the EU to consider that very
favorably. In addition to that, it will take a great deal of resources,
financial resources, to be able to put this election on and the referendum
on. Much of these resources will need to come from the international
partners, of which the EU will be a significant donor. We urge them to
become involved.
In the long term, the development of the infrastructures that I talked
about, the development of governance, of government that I discussed cannot
be done without the participation of the Europeans and the European Union.
We have very close relations with the Contact Group, with the Troika. The
Troika had a very important role in birthing the Comprehensive Peace
Agreement in Naivasha in 2005, and we are working with Norway and the UK to
continue to provide the support that the CPA needs to be fully implemented.
But we believe that – so we believe that the European Union is an important
partnership and a key element to ensuring that not only the elections and
referendum take place as scheduled and in a credible way, but also that the
future of Sudan continues to be bright.
In terms of the ICC and all that, our mandate really is to save lives and to
help the Sudan be birthed in a way that it can be successful and it can
thrive and be prosperous. Right now, we are working very hard in Darfur and
in the south to put into place those things that are required to save lives
and make a brighter future. That doesn’t mean that we’re not interested in
accountability and justice. Those things will come when the time is right.
Next question.
MODERATOR: Yes, please. Tulin.
QUESTION: Great. Thank you, General Gration. This is Tulin Daloglu with
Haberturk, a Turkish daily newspaper. I want to follow up on the EU
question, but just from the perspective of Turkey. How do you see the
Turkish role in this situation, and can you specifically talk about the
differences that you do have with the Turkish position on what is happening
in Sudan? As far as I know, the Ankara government do not think what happens
in Sudan – does not count as a genocide. And how does it play in the bigger
picture in this issue? If you can talk about it, I’ll appreciate. Thank you.
MR. GRATION: Yes. Frankly, I have not visited Turkey on this issue, although
I lived there for five years, so I would love to find an opportunity to
visit. So I really haven’t had much to do with Turkey or Turkey’s
involvement in Sudan. I am not aware of many initiatives that the Turkish
Government has in Sudan, so really difficult for me to speak. But I will
take that as a question and I will continue to probe this and I’ll try to
find out exactly an answer not only to your question, but how Turkey will
play in how we see the international community getting involved in Sudan. So
thank you very much.
MODERATOR: Yes. Frederick, please.
QUESTION: Thank you, sir. I’m Frederick Nnoma-Addison, AMIP News. Two
questions if I may. The first one is that Sudan is bordered by an unusually
large number of countries, at least six or seven – Egypt, Chad, Libya,
Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Eritrea, Ethiopia – is that helping or
hurting the transition process in any way? And then secondly, you described
America as playing a leadership and support role. Could you emphasize a
little bit on exactly what it’s doing? Is it a provision of money, is it
oversight, or what? Thank you.
MR. GRATION: Yes, I’ll answer your second part first. Our role so far has
been to create an environment where the Sudanese people themselves can come
up with agreements. We have not forced any agreement. We have not forced the
parties to make any commitments. What we’ve tried to do is outline the
issues, to facilitate, to help in any way we can, but it has really been to
create an environment. And that really lends itself to the second part,
because you’ve raised an important issue. There are so many countries that
border Sudan, and so many issues impinge on Sudan.
Just the fact that we have refugees coming in from Uganda into Equatoria
because of the Lord’s Resistance Army and some of the things that have
happened in there in terms of villages that have been burned down and women
being raped and people being killed and many people are coming north, there
are other trade angles where it’s important for the countries of the south
to continue the trade to the north. Libya has been very helpful in Darfur
and coming up with solutions in Darfur. Libya has been very useful in
helping with rebel unification. Egypt is very concerned, as you know, about
the Nile waters and the 1959 agreement that controls the flow of water. And
we are continuing to work with all those countries.
Prime Minister Meles has been very useful as he’s discussed and shared his
concepts and historical background. And I’m going to Kenya and Uganda to
talk to the Kenyan leaders and President Museveni this – on the 26th to get
their perspectives. And then I’m going to the African Union to – again, to
understand more. Because I don’t live in Sudan; America doesn’t live in
Sudan. But we know it’s critically important to Africa and critically
important to the whole world that this problem gets resolved, because we
can’t afford to have a civil divorce that’s messy, and that civil war that
results.
Because the ramifications of that, which stretch from Cairo to Capetown and
from Dakar to Djibouti, we have to ensure that the outcome of this is peace
– lasting peace not only for Sudan, whether they divide or whether they stay
unified, but peace for the entire region. That’s our goal, that’s our
objective, and that’s what we’re trying to do is create an environment so
the Africans themselves can help Africa, so the Sudanese themselves can come
up with the right answers for them.
MODERATOR: Last question for Washington. Yes, go ahead.
QUESTION: Yes, Menelik Zeleke from the PGTV news network. It has been stated
that the ICC has issued a arrest warrant for the President al-Bashir. What
is the United States or President Obama’s philosophy behind that? And does
he also see that the ICC has the authority to issue such a warrant?
MR. GRATION: These issues would be best discussed with the special councils
and the people that deal with this on a day-to-day basis. As I said before,
we are encouraging the Sudanese to comply with the requests of the ICC for
information. We also believe that there cannot be a lasting peace unless
these issues are resolved. And right now, my focus is to save lives, to
reverse the dire conditions that occur in Darfur, to have a definitive end
to the conflict there, to end the gross human rights abuses and the
atrocities that have taken place, to end the genocide and the results that
people are living in today in terms of over 2.7 million people in IDP camps.
In addition to that, we have a mandate to fully implement the Comprehensive
Peace Agreement. And I’ll tell you, frankly, to do that, we have to have a
dialogue with Khartoum, with the NCP. We have to have a similar dialogue
with the Government of Southern Sudan, Salva Kiir and the rest of them. We
have to have a dialogue with the tribal leaders, with the IDPs, with the
rebels in Darfur. And we have to have a dialogue, as was pointed out, with
all the neighbors – with Cairo, with Tripoli, with N’djamena, Kampala,
Nairobi and Addis.
All these relationships have to be there. And so we have frank dialogue and
engagement – not for engagement’s sake, but to save lives. And that’s why
we’re continuing to talk with the government of Khartoum, the Government of
Sudan. That’s why we continue to negotiate with them to be able to save
lives, to be able to bring peace, and then when the time is right, we’ll
ensure that there’s accountability and justice in accordance with the
international systems.
MODERATOR: New York, do we have a question?
QUESTION: Thanks, General, for this briefing. This is Khaled Dawoud, Al
Jazeera correspondent here in New York. I just have a quick follow-up, I
mean, on your answer about President Bashir. There were reports that the
U.S. is trying to convince him not to run in the upcoming elections as a
kind of a way out of this, you know, disagreement – obvious disagreement
between the African Union and the United States and the Europeans over the
ICC issue. So I was wondering if this is one option you think that could be
useful.
And then my second question by virtue of working here in New York and
covering the UN: Is the U.S. Administration speaking in one voice about
Sudan? Because some members of the Administration would still insist that we
are having a genocide or a continuing genocide in Darfur. So I wanted to
clarify the Administration’s position on this issue, because there are many
other reports that the situation has relatively calmed down in Darfur and
it’s mostly tribal violence. Thank you.
MR. GRATION: Let me answer the genocide question first. The President has
talked about a genocide that has taken place. And we continue to deal with
the effects of the situation. We are speaking with one voice as we try to
reverse the devastation and the dire conditions that exist in Darfur. And as
we look forward, there’s absolutely no question that we’re all working
together, working with one accord on the same objective, which is to save
lives and to bring peace in that area.
As for President Bashir running and other people running, the parties will
put up their candidates by – around the 22nd of January. And as far as I
know, we have not been involved in making any recommendations, recognizing
that Sudan is a sovereign country and these parties can run themselves as
they see fit and put up for contesting these positions anybody who they
would like. And so I am not aware of any decisions on our part to try to
change the outcome of what the NCP would decide in terms of their candidate
for national government.
QUESTION: Sir, I’m Renzo Cianfanelli of the Italian media group Corriere
della Sera. I have a question on some reports which come up from time to
time about the possible involvement of al-Qaida in Sudan. Could you
enlighten us on this point? Thank you.
MR. GRATION: It is the best of my knowledge that Sudan is not supporting
al-Qaida in any way. In fact, it’s my understanding that they’ve been
helpful to the international community to try to stop terrorism. So I don’t
have any other information beyond that, but it would appear to me that Sudan
is participating in the global efforts to stamp out terrorism, especially on
the international side.
MODERATOR: New York.
QUESTION: My name is Louise With. I’m from a newspaper in Denmark. Forgive
me for going off in a bit of a different direction. I’m writing a profile
about Mr. Lumumba Di-Aping, who was very active at the climate summit in
Copenhagen in December. So I’m wondering if you could give me your comments
on – have you met him, what’s your impression of him, and what’s your
reaction to his appearance and his comments and statements in Copenhagen
regarding the climate negotiations? Thank you.
MR. GRATION: Yes, thank you very much, and I must say at this point that
while I am familiar with him and his work, I have been dedicated to Sudan. I
am the Envoy to Sudan, and as you probably know, I spend a great deal of
time focused strictly on Sudan. I’ve made – I’m getting ready to make my
12th visit to the region in 10 months, and so most of my time is spent on
Sudanese issues, Sudan’s challenges. And I’m afraid I haven’t spent enough
time studying Copenhagen to give you a good enough answer, so I apologize.
MODERATOR: That’ll be all.
MR. GRATION: Thank you very much. I appreciate the opportunity and I look
forward to doing this again.
MODERATOR: Thank you all for coming this morning.
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