KHARTOUM, Jan 30 (AFP) - Iran has built the first stretch of a highway dubbed the "Peace Road" linking north Sudan with the war-torn south, an Iranian government official said at the weekend.
The 70-km (40-mile) section in central Sudan cost $10 million and was a gift from Iran, said Kamaran Sadiqi, the manager of the Khartoum office of the Iranian Construction Ministry.
The road, which is already open to traffic, links Rebek (310 km or 190 miles south of Khartoum) to Jebelain in White Nile State.
Western-supported Christians in the south have been fighting a civil war with Khartoum's Islamic government since 1983.
But President Omar al-Beshir has pledged to forge ahead with international efforts to restore peace.
"The road is a token of friendship with the Muslim Sudanese government and people and is part of Iran's contribution to peace by facilitating movement between the north and south of the country," said Sadiqi.
It is the first phase of a highway, known as the Peace Road, which is designed to link north Sudan to Juba, the main city in war-torn south Sudan.
Following a tour of the project on Saturday, Sadiqi said construction of the highway, which includes 112 bridges, began in 1995 after an agreement was signed with the White Nile State government in 1991.
Sudan's Roads and Communications Ministry has already started work on a bridge in Jebelain as a start to the second phase of the Peace Road, which will stretch south to Renk in Upper Nile State.
