Eritrean president arrives in Khartoum on Darfur issue

Eritrean President Isaias Afworki arrived here Saturday on a three-day official visit to Sudan in a bid to help solve the Darfur problem in the country.

During the visit, Afworki, who has long mediated between Khartoum and holdout rebel groups, is to hold talks with Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir and First Vice President Salva Kiir Mayardit in Khartoum and will tour the southern Sudanese city of Juba.

Sudanese Presidential Adviser Mustafa Osman Ismail told reporters that the Eritrean president's visit came in the framework of the regional and international efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Darfur issue and help bring the non- signatories of the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) into the peace process.

He stressed that the Sudanese government was "ready at any time to resume the peace talks without preconditions."

The Sudanese government signed the DPA with one of the three Darfur rebel groups in the Nigerian capital Abuja on May 5, 2006, while the other two groups has refused to sign the agreement, claiming it was unfair and did not meet all their demands.

Source: Xinhua