SUDAN BRIEFS: TRADE/AID TO KENYA; NORWAY IN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000578 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL ETRD EPET SOCI SENV SU KE NO CH TW, PLO SUBJECT: SUDAN BRIEFS: TRADE/AID TO KENYA; NORWAY IN DARFUR; CHINA OR TAIWAN IN SOUTH; NEW PA AMBASSADOR ¶1. SUMMARY: This week's installment of news briefs not included in post's other reporting includes prospects for a Sudan-Kenya trade agreement, together with South Sudan's USD 1 million donation for Kenyan famine relief; Norway's assurances that it will continue to support peacekeeping and relief efforts in Darfur; a threat to kick China out of Southern Sudan's oil fields, and embrace Taiwan; where the new Palestinian ambassador in Khartoum has been for the past 26 years; and how the Government plans to lure more tourists to Sudan -- though perhaps not to Dinder National Park. END SUMMARY. -------------- Sudan and Kenya: Trade, But also Aid -------------- ¶2. Sudan and Kenya have resumed negotiations on a bilateral trade agreement, following the visit of Kenya's Assistant Trade and Industry Minister, Abdirahman Ali, to Khartoum last week. News of the talks was first mentioned in Nairobi's East African Standard on March 4, and later on March 6 in Khartoum's pro-government Sudan Vision. Trade between the two countries has grown 200 per cent in the past two years, largely due to a surge of Kenyan exports. Kenyan officials have focused their efforts on reducing non-tariff barriers to the Sudanese market, such as visa regulations, though Sudanese officials are more concerned about Sudan's rising trade deficit with Kenya, now estimated at USD 16.4 million. ¶3. The Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) has donated KSH 75 million (approximately USD 1 million) for famine relief in Kenya, Khartoum's Citizen newspaper reported on March 2. Justine Yac Arop, GoSS Cabinet Affairs Minister, announced the donation during a visit to Nairobi, as a gesture of appreciation for Kenya's support for the people of Southern Sudan during the North-South civil war. Arop's trip to Kenya is a prelude to the visit of First Vice President Salva Kiir Mayardit, who will attend the Southern Sudan Investment and Development Conference in Nairobi on March 14, according to the East African Standard. "The conference will offer a forum for the Sudanese private and public sectors to showcase opportunities in the oil, gas, power, infrastructure, and agricultural sub-sectors," according to event organizers. -------------- -------------- Norway Committed to Sudan, Will Join Force in Darfur -------------- -------------- ¶4. Norwegian Ambassador to Sudan Fridtjov Thorkildsen said Norway will continue to support the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS),and would most likely contribute additional troops to a U.N. peacekeeping operation in Darfur, according to an interview in the pro- government newspaper Sudan Vision on February 23. Thorkildsen said Norway's involvement in Sudan dated back to the 1972 Addis Ababa peace accords, and pointed out that Sudan is now the largest recipient of Norwegian aid. He denied that relations with Sudan were negatively affected by the Danish cartoon controversy, though he did not mention a Norwegian NGO's decision to suspend operations in Darfur on February 2 after one of its cars was stoned. -------------- - Southern Sudan: No to Beijing, Yes to Taipei? -------------- - ¶5. The South Sudan Defense Force (SSDF) and its political wing, the South Sudan United Defense Alliance (SSUDA),have pledged to revoke China's oil concessions in Southern Sudan, should the South vote for independence in the planned 2010-11 referendum, Khartoum's al-Wan newspaper reported on March 1. The SSDF/SSUDA accused China of providing arms to the Government of National Unity (GNU) in return for access to Southern Sudan oil fields, and called upon Western investors to join them in disrupting Beijing's economic policy in Sudan. The two anti-government groups were also reported to be working "very hard" to activate relations with authorities in Taiwan. -------------- New Palestinian Ambassador to Sudan -------------- ¶6. The new Palestinian Ambassador to Sudan, Sayed al- KHARTOUM 00000578 002 OF 002 Masri, arrived in Khartoum on February 6. Contrary to initial reports that the ambassador was affiliated with Hamas, Embassy research confirms that he is a career diplomat, having served as the Palestinian Ambassador to Vietnam for over 26 years. -------------- Cholera Outbreak Continues in South -------------- ¶7. The death toll from Southern Sudan's cholera epidemic has topped 127, the WHO reported on March 5, and 5600 people have been infected. The outbreak in Yei has been brought under control, but continues to rage in Juba, with between 100 and 150 cases reported each day. The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC) has appealed for CHF 1 million (USD 879,000) to respond to the outbreak over the next three months. -------------- -------------- More Money for Tourism, but not for Dinder National Park -------------- -------------- ¶8. Sudan will invest more money to attract international tourists, Under Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife Ali Mahjoub Atta al-Manan told Sudan Vision on February 28. Sudan's earnings from tourism was already as large as its returns from animal husbandry, cotton, or sesame production, al-Manan noted, and the number of foreign tourists visiting Sudan in 2004 were "much more" than the figure for 2003. To help develop the tourist industry, al-Manan said the Government of National Unity (GNU) would invest USD 150 million to establish more hotels, including floating hotels on the Nile, rest houses at archaeological sites in Northern Sudan, and improvements at Dinder National Park (see below). However, he also blasted foreign media for creating the impression that the country was unstable. "There is only a limited war zone in Sudan," said the Under Secretary. ¶9. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP), meanwhile, has threatened to withdraw its funding of Dinder National Park in Blue Nile State, unless Sudan's Government of National Unity (GNU) makes good its commitment to provide USD 225,000 in funding for wildlife conservation. Under a 2000 agreement between the UNDP and Sudan, the UNDP would provide USD 1.4 million for a three-phase biosphere reserve program in the park, focusing on education and "alternative agriculture" models for farmers living in the area. Juba's Citizen newspaper quoted a UNDP source on February 28 that "the UNDP regrets Sudan, a petroleum exporting country, has failed to meet its counterpart contributions." WHITEHEAD