Commissioner Louis Michel meets the leader of the main movement in southern Sudan

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Louis Michel, the member of the European Commission responsible for development and humanitarian aid, was in Nairobi today for a meeting with John Garang, the leader of southern Sudan's principal movement, the SPLA/M (Sudan People's Liberation Movement). This meeting followed last week's visit to Khartoum, where Mr. Michel met Sudan's President Omar Al-Bashir to discuss a possible peace agreement between the north and south of the country.

Mr. Michel expressed the support of the Commission and the EU for the signing of a comprehensive peace agreement between the Sudanese government and the SPLM before the end of the year, as the parties pledged to do in a protocol signed in Nairobi on 19 November as part of the Naivasha process. Mr. Michel explained that it was in the interest of both parties that this agreement should provide a platform for a comprehensive settlement in the other crises besetting Sudan, and in particular Darfur.

An agreement would give a green light for a resumption of development cooperation between the EU and Sudan, which has been suspended since 1991. EUR 369 million stands available in the European Development Fund. The Commission is ready to unblock these funds quickly to provide a substantial and immediate peace dividend. Aid priorities include support for the return and resettlement of refugees and displaced persons, the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration of ex combatants and capacity building measures for the administration. Mr. Michel felt there was a real commitment on the part of the SPLM to bring the Naivasha process to a successful conclusion, a commitment which echoed the encouraging statements made in Khartoum last week.

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