American envoy arrives in Sudan for Darfur talks
The US envoy for the Sudan, Andrew Natsios, arrived in the war-torn African country last night for talks on the Darfur crisis.
Sudan’s leadership is facing pressure on three fronts over Darfur – the International Criminal Court this week accused a junior Cabinet minister of war crimes, the UN Security Council is pushing to deploy UN peacekeepers in the troubled region of western Sudan, and the junior partner in the government coalition supports the UN deployment.
Natsios made no statement on arrival in Khartoum last night, but the official Sudan News Agency said he would meet senior government officials and visit Darfur as well as Juba, the southern capital, during his seven-day trip.
Tension has become public in recent weeks between the National Congress Party of President Omar al-Bashir and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, the ruling party in southern Sudan and the junior partner in the government.
