Khartoum rejects Paris’ offer on crisis talks

Upon being invited on June 11 by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner to a meeting in Paris later this month on the crisis in embattled Darfur, Sudan’s Khartoum was quick to reject the offer, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported. The conference, announced as the French Initiative by French President Nicolas Sarkozy earlier this month, is scheduled for the end of this month and is expected to include foreign ministers from Egypt, China - currently Sudan's primary ally - and the United States, one of the fiercest critics of Sudan's regime.
The members are set to discuss a political solution to the conflict.
"We were talking about the situation here in Sudan and mainly in Darfur ... and Sarkozy's initiative to organise a meeting on June 25 in Paris to talk about the situation," Kouchner was quoted as telling reporters on June 11 after meeting with Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol. Akol, speaking afterwards, said there are "a number of reasons" that he will not attend the conference, saying the timing was not right. He did not elaborate. Read more >>>>>>>>>>>>>