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Sudan Taking Steps to Block Al-Qaeda, U.S. Delegation Arrives to Discuss Slavery
KHARTOUM, Dec 26 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The Sudanese government is taking steps to prevent al-Qaeda members from fleeing to the country, while a U.S. delegation arrived here Tuesday on an unannounced visit to discuss with officials the issue of slavery and forced abductions in Sudan, newspapers reported Tuesday.
The independent Al-Watan daily said the government distributed a list of 20 people, headed by terror suspect Osama bin Laden and his assistant Ayman al-Zawahri, to all airports, seaports and frontier posts, ordering the authorities there to block their entry into Sudan.
The list includes all people suspected of planning the deadly September 11 attacks on the United States, plus those wanted for suspected involvement in previous attacks on U.S. interests abroad, the newspaper said.
Sudan hosted bin Laden from 1992 to 1996, when he was deported to Afghanistan under heavy U.S. pressure, and media reports have speculated on Sudan, Somalia and Yemen as potential bases for the al-Qaeda network to rebuild itself.
Sudanese officials have stated that the regime is not concerned about the possibility of a U.S. strike, however.
"We have nothing that makes us fear an American strike and we cannot see any reason for such a strike," First Vice President Ali Osman Taha said in recent remarks.
Meanwhile, the independent Al-Rai Al-Aam daily newspaper quoted "informed political" sources Tuesday as saying that a U.S. delegation had arrived in Khartoum on Sunday for a visit of several days.
The daily quoted Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail as saying his government agreed with the United States to conduct a joint investigation on alleged slavery and abduction in Sudan.
However, Ismail added, "We are sure that slavery is not practiced in Sudan."
Slavery and human trafficking remain a problem in Sudan, according to a U.S. State Department human rights report released earlier this year which blamed government security forces for the practice.
The Swiss-based human rights group Christian Solidarity International (CSI) reported Monday that around 14,000 slaves have been freed during the past six months.
An online report by Voice of America said that according to John Eibner, the director of CSI's Slavery Research Unit, local peace accords over the past one and a half years have paved the way for the return of the slaves without ransom being paid.
Eibner said that international pressure to end the slave trade appears to be influencing the government now, according to the VOA report.
Washington has recently stepped up efforts to end Sudan's 18-year-old civil war, which pits mostly believers of traditional religions and Christian rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Army and their northern allies against a series of Arab- and Muslim-led governments in Khartoum.
Former U.S. Senator John Danforth, named by U.S. President George W. Bush as Sudan envoy in September, visited Sudan in November and is expected to return again next month to monitor progress between the two sides.
During his visit, Danforth proposed ending abductions and slavery among a series of measures aimed at building confidence between the two warring sides.
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