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Al Bashir Returns Home after Visit to Eritrea
Khartoum - President of the Republic Omer Al Bashir and the delegation accompanying returned to the country after concluding a three-day visit to Eritrea in which the president debated with President Isaias Afewerki, Eritrean president, the development of bilateral relations as well as reinforcing mutual interests.
The president was received in Khartoum International Airport by Ali Osman Mohammed Taha, first Vice president, and a number of high ranking government officials.
In a press release at Khartoum International Airport, Majid Yousif, Sudanese ambassador to Eritrea, described the president's visit to Asmara as successful and was aimed at enhancing bilateral relations and border security between the two countries and regionally.
The talks also focused a number of other issues with a view to turn the Sudanese Eritrean relations into a model for African countries to follow, said the ambassador.
The talks, the ambassador continued, also focused on relations between Sudan and South Sudan including the latest developments in an effort to underpin stability and security, and the two sides were in agreement that all issues can be dealt with through bilateral dialogue.
During the talks in Asmara, the two presidents stressed on the importance of joint work and agreed on having safe and open borders between the two countries and their peoples; shaping each other's strategic depth.
Also, the two sides agreed to form two committees between Khartoum and Asmara to follow up on the implementation of the agreements reached.
The common geographical and social characteristics as well as the common destiny and other shared features place Sudan and Eritrea on one front to face similar challenges, said president Al Bashir.
Al Bashir went on to say that Sudan and Eritrea renewed their emphasis on the importance of solidifying security in the region and added, "We are determined to stabilize security in our respective countries and elsewhere and the continuous communication and consultation between Sudan and Eritrea allow for that goal to be fulfilled permanently. These relations also allow for safeguarding the borders, activating commercial exchange, and facilitating citizens' movement to attain the final goal of realizing integration in the area."
Our task as governments is to make it easy for the peoples to interact and communicate in every respect, said the president.
The two presidents, Al Bashir and Afewerki, agreed that inspection must carried out on the organizations which supply assistance to the two countries to verify that what is being provided is actually humanitarian assistance, not what might be poisonous assistance shrouded in special agendas.
What we want from the outside world is to stop their unsavory interventions, Al Bashir said and added, "Western countries do not wish us well. Their interventions, whether through organizations or outwardly charitable organizations, masquerade as charitable but in reality are full of various torments for our peoples. And all of these organizations enter our countries with agendas that they know are way different than what the people of the region are hoping for."
The president also briefed president Afewerki on the latest developments on relations with South Sudan and the reasons which led the government to take recent decisions to stop cooperation agreements with South Sudan.
Ali Karti, Sudanese foreign minister, detailed the results of the talks between the Sudanese and Eritrean presidents.
A dialogue on the future of the Sudan South Sudan issue and the future of the region as a whole was undertaken to discuss how the peoples of the region can cooperate to avert these kinds of situations which can affect the security of the region as a whole and the interests of their peoples, said the minister.
The talks between the two presidents resulted on establishing free zones on the Sudanese Eritrean border as well as extending the highway linking Sudan and Eritrea to reach all the way from Garora to Port Sudan and ensure the ease of movement, the minister elaborated and added, "Mechanisms were formed and it was agreed to form committees as well to follow up on the implementation of these plans. It was also agreed to review the inhabitants’ movement between the two countries to reach a stage where citizens of both countries can travel between Sudan and Eritrea using normal identity cards instead of multiple documents and visas."
By Zuleikha Abdul Raziq
Received on Sun Jun 16 2013 - 12:38:45 EDT