Sudanese President Omer al- Bashir and Eritrean President Issayas Aferwerki held talks on Sunday on bilateral relations and the implementation of a Asmara- mediated peace agreement in eastern Sudan.

During the summit meeting, al-Bashir praised the efforts exerted by Eritrea for the peace in Sudan, saying that these efforts had shown Eritrea's desire for realizing security and stability in Sudan and paving the way for the country's development.

He reiterated his government's commitment to implementing the Asmara Peace Agreement, which was signed on Oct. 14, 2006, in the Eritrean capital between the Sudanese government and the rebel Eastern Front to end a decade-long civil war in the eastern part of Sudan.

Al-Bashir, meanwhile, promised that his government would continue the efforts for realizing the peace in the western Sudanese region of Darfur on the basis of the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA), which the government signed with a rebel faction on May 5, 2006, in the Nigerian capital Abuja.

He expressed appreciation of Eritrea's efforts for persuading the Darfur rebel movements, which had first refused to sign the DPA, to join the peace process.

Aferwerki, for his part, reiterated Eritrea's desire for realizing the peace in Sudan, saying that "the peace in Sudan is a part of the peace in Eritrea."

He also stressed his country's support for the Sudanese government's efforts to resolve the problems in eastern Sudan and Darfur, calling for a resolution of all the problems in Sudan without foreign interference.

Arriving in Khartoum on Saturday on a three-day official visit in Sudan, the Eritrean president toured Jaba, the capital of southern Sudan, on Sunday.

Source: Xinhua