February 15, 2010 (Washington, DC) — U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan Scott Gration will travel to Chad and Sudan from February 14-22, 2010, where he will visit N’Djamena, Juba, Kadugli (Kauda), and Khartoum. The dispatch of Mr. Gration is a part of the US effort to bring just lasting peace in the region. Today, the Office of the Spokesman in Washington, DC described what Gration will do.
“In N’Djamena, Special Envoy Gration will meet with Chadian officials, including President Idriss Déby Itno and Foreign Minister Moussa Faki Mahamat, to support and advance recent efforts to improve bilateral relations between Chad and Sudan. In Juba, Special Envoy Gration will continue his consultations with members of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), including President Salva Kiir, working to resolve many remaining issues around the full and complete implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and to assess preparations for upcoming national elections. Special Envoy Gration will also travel to Kadugli to meet with UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) officials and the leadership of the Kauda state. Finally, Special Envoy Gration will visit Khartoum to participate in bilateral meetings with both the SPLM and the National Congress Party (NCP) to discuss the census, referendum, Abyei border demarcation, and post-referenda issues.”
The United States is stepping up its effort to make sure the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which was signed between the North and the South get implemented. Also among the pressing issues is the national elections which is expected to take place in April of 2010.
In 2005, Khartoum and Juba signed a peace deal which ended more than twenty two years of bloody civil war.