Posted by By LUCKY NWANKWERE, Abuja on
President Umaru Yar‘Adua said at the weekend in Lisbon, Portugal, that resolution of the crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan would top the agenda of his talks with President George Bush of the United States when they meet this week in Washington.
President Umaru Yar‘Adua said at the weekend in Lisbon, Portugal, that resolution of the crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan would top the agenda of his talks with President George Bush of the United States when they meet this week in Washington.
He gave this hint during a bilateral meeting with the Sudanese President, Omar El-Bashir who sought audience with him in the course of the on-going EU-Africa Summit.
A statement from presidential spokesman, Mr. Segun Adeniyi said the Sudanese leader who thanked President Yar‘Adua for the leadership role Nigeria had been playing in the resolution of the crisis, called for more intervention to ensure a speedy deployment of the UN/AU Hybrid Force as well as better funding of the operation.
El-Bashir listed the immediate challenges in the region as including funding for the hybrid force, the preparedness of African countries to take up the challenge, and the logistic problems associated with the deployment of the troops.
The statement said while tasking his Sudanese counterpart on the need to create enabling environment for the peaceful resolution of the crisis, President Yar'Adua assured he would take up the concerns raised by the Sudanese leader during his meeting with President Bush this week.
He also promised to seek audience with the United Nations Secretary General, Mr. Ban Ki Moon, on how to tackle the immediate problems while charting the way forward for the Darfur region.
President Yar‘Adua equally informed President El-Bashir of his desire to have the Force Commander, Nigeria´s General Martin-Luther Agwai accompany him to the meeting with the UN Secretary General so that all the technical issues on Darfur could be fully addressed.
President Yar‘Adua also held bilateral sessions with the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, the Spanish Prime Minister, Jose´ Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, the Algerian President, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, and South African President Thabo Mbeki.
In his meeting with the Spanish President who called for greater economic ties between Nigeria and Spain, President Yar‘Adua said there was no better moment to do business with Nigeria than now.
In his session with President Bouteflika of Algeria, President Yar‘Adua was said to have proposed a joint committee between the two countries to examine the possibility of harnessing the gas potentials of the Gulf of Guinea through a trans-Atlantic gas pipeline.
His Algerian counterpart accepted the proposal.
The president returned to Abuja last night after speaking on how Europe could partner with Africa , also held bilateral talks with the Prime Minister of Netherlands, Mr. Jan Peter Balkenende, who pleaded that efforts be renewed by the Nigerian authorities for Shell to be allowed to resume operations in Ogoniland.