Burundian President Visits Sudan

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 000280 SIPDIS SIPDIS, SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV SU BY SUBJECT: Burundian President Visits Sudan ¶1. (U) After the end of the AU Summit, Burundian president Pierre Nkurunziza remained for an additional three days, January 27-29, to discuss bilateral issues. The main result of the visit was the establishment of a ministerial-level commission to discuss matters of mutual interest, focused on education, trade, industry, finance, agriculture, and security. The first phase of this cooperation will be an exchange of Arabic teachers and students with the University of Burundi. In addition to meetings with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, Nkurunziza also had discussions with Salva Kiir, First Vice President and President of Southern Sudan, and Dr. Nafie Ali Nafie, Assistant to the President and Deputy Chairman for Political Affairs for the National Congress Party (NCP). The discussions with Dr. Nafie centered on joint cooperation of their respective political parties. ¶2. (U) While current cooperation between Burundi and the Sudan is limited, Burundi has deployed troops, mostly police, to the AU mission (AMIS) in Darfur. Both Burundi and Sudan are also members several multilateral organizations, including COMESA and the Nile Basin Initiative. Sudan has started to focus some attention on these two bodies, although there was no direct mention of either during the meetings. HUME