The U.S. State Department announced that Sudan Special Envoy Scott Gration set off today on a week-long trip to Sudan and would meet with key regional players Egypt and Ethiopia. The trip is designed to focus on finalizing an action plan between Sudan’s northern and southern governments that will map out the critical milestones left to be implemented from the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.
From the State Department on the special envoy’s itinerary:
Special Envoy Gration will also travel to Malakal in Southern Sudan to visit a Joint Integrated Unit regional headquarters to assess the capacity of these units to carry out key security functions; he will continue bilateral discussions with the SPLM in Juba and with the NCP in Khartoum. He will then travel to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to resume talks with the leadership of key Darfuri armed movements on unification efforts in support of the Doha peace process. While in Ethiopia, Special Envoy Gration will also meet with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. Finally, Special Envoy Gration will travel to Cairo, Egypt, for meetings with Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Aboul Gheit, Sudanese Presidential Advisor Ghazi Salahuddin, Libyan Secretary of the General People’s Committee for Foreign Liaison and International Cooperation Musa Kusa, and Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa.