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April 2, 2009

US Envoy Hopes for Friendship With Sudan
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=2348C1C:A6F02AD83191E1600DDE4DFBFCD7B18BE55ED32ED25AB8F6&
 
Scott Gration says it is up to Khartoum to decide if it wants to be
friends with US 
US special envoy to Sudan Scott Gration (L) arrives at the Sudanese
Foreign Ministry in Khartoum, 02 April 2009The new special U.S. envoy to
Sudan said it is up to the war-torn country if it wants to be friends
with the United States. Scott Gration arrived in Khartoum on Thursday,
saying, "It will be up to the Sudanese government to determine how they
want to continue with the relationship."Gration said he hopes the
relationship will be one of "friendship and cooperation."The U.S. State
Department said Gration will visit Sudan's war-torn Darfur region as
well as southern Sudan and the oil city of Abyei, before holding talks
with senior government officials. Gration's arrival came one day after
thousands of supporters welcomed Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir back
home, following a trip abroad in defiance of an international arrest
warrant for alleged war crimes. The International Criminal Court issued
an arrest warrant against him last month, charging he orchestrated a
campaign of rape, murder and other crimes against civilians in Darfur,
where his government has been fighting rebels since 2003. Mr. Bashir has
refused to cooperate with the court, dismissing it as a tool of Western
imperialism. He traveled to Saudi Arabia Wednesday, following a trip to
Qatar for the Arab Summit. While in Saudi Arabia, he visited Islam's
holiest city, Mecca, where he performed a minor Muslim pilgrimage, the
Omra.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.


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