Khartoum, 06 April-(ANA)-The chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, John Kerry, will lead a delegation to Sudan's Darfur region, U.S. officials say, in a possible sign of a growing willingness to engage with Khartoum.
"This is significant," a U.S. diplomatic source told Reuters. "It is the first Congressional delegation to Sudan we have had since 2007. Like the U.S. envoy's current visit, it is a new tack."
The new U.S. special envoy to Sudan, Scott Gration, who is currently touring the country, made an unusually positive statement on his arrival in Khartoum last week, telling reporters he was looking for friendship and cooperation from the Sudanese government.
Gration said he had arrived "with my hands open", echoing a phrase used by President Barack Obama during his inauguration that was widely seen as an offer of greater engagement with the Islamic world.
U.S. officials said the appointment of Gration marked an attempt to find new ways to deal with the Sudanese government. Gration, a retired Air Force general who grew up in Africa, is a close ally of Obama's and reports directly to the president, they added.
The U.S. diplomatic source said Kerry, a Democrat, would lead a Congressional delegation to Darfur, and would meet senior Sudanese officials in Khartoum in the middle of next week.
The state-run Sudanese Media Centre said the U.S. Congressional delegation would visit Sudan for three days next week.
Sudan traditionally had a stormy relationship with the United States. President Bill Clinton imposed wide-ranging sanctions on the country, accusing it of supporting terrorism.
Relations have been strained further by the conflict in Darfur, which both Obama and his predecessor George W. Bush have called genocide.(ANA)
Israel/PM