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.

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Sudan and Kenya: Trade, But also Aid
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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.

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Norway Committed to Sudan, Will Join Force in Darfur
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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.

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Southern Sudan: No to Beijing, Yes to Taipei?
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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.

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New Palestinian Ambassador to Sudan
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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.

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Cholera Outbreak Continues in South
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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.

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More Money for Tourism, but not for Dinder National Park
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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."

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