South african president arrives in Khartoum

Former South African President and Chairman of the African Union High Level Panel on Sudan Thabo Mbeki arrived here on Thursday for a three-day visit to Sudan. Spokesman of Sudanese foreign ministry, Al-Obaid Adam Maraweh said in a press release issued here today that Mbeki will have intensive talks tomorrow, Friday with the Sudanese government officials including first Vice President , the secretary of foreign relations at the National Congress Party Prof.Ibrahim Ghanndour . The Chairman of the African Union High Level Panel will later hold talks on Saturday with Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir on the resumption of negotiations with the State of South Sudan, Al-Obaid Adam Maraweh added. The former South African President made clear he would leave for Juba on Sunday for similar talks with the south Sudan officials covering The spokesman pointed out that the visit aims to discuss the date and detailed agendas of the next round of talks between Sudan and South Sudan. It is worthy to mention that both countries are currently under pressure from the AU and the UN Security Council (UNSC) to abide by the latter s 2 May resolution which dictated under the threat of sanctions that Khartoum and Juba return within a week to negotiations over oil, citizenship, border demarcation and the status of Abyei region.