By Libya Herald staff.
27 October 2014:
The Prime Minister Abdullah Al-Thinni has arrived in Khartoum for talks with the Sudanese government aimed . . .[restrict]at improving relations between the two countries and ensuring that the government in Khartoum deals only with the legitimate Libyan authorities. He was met at the airport at the beginning of the three-day visit by President Omar Al-Bashir.
Formal talks on a number of issues, including military issues as well as the supply of Sudanese labour in Libya, are due to begin tomorrow.
Thinni is accompanied by the First Deputy Prime Minister and Head of Security Affairs. Almahdi Allabad, Foreign Minister Mohamed Al-Dairi, Economy and Industry Minister Muneer Ali Asr, Minister of Social Affairs Massoud Belgassem Sawa, head of Media and Culture authority Omar Al-Guweri and the Director of the Prime Minister’s office, Mahmoud Abu-Bahia.
Last month, Sudan was accused by the Libya government of helping send arms and fighters to Libya Dawn and Thinni threatened to break relations. This had followed talks in Khartoum between President Bashir and the former Congress head Nuri Abu Sahmain, who has been leading the opposition to the HoR and the Thinni government, and then the discovery of a Sudanese aircraft in Kufra with arms on board.
Khartoum denied the accusations but by the beginning of October, however, it had started a charm offensive, declaring that it recognised the HoR. This is believed to have been the result of strong pressure on it to change policy by Saudi Arabia.
In a statement today, Sudan’s Foreign Minister, Ali Karti, described Sudanese-Libyan relations as “eternal”, adding that Thinni’s visit would show how firm were relations between Khartoum and “the elected Libyan government”.
Alluding to the earlier dispute however, Karti acknowledged that the visit was aimed at putting relations “on the right track”.
According to the Sudan new agency SUNA, while in Khartoum, Thinni will attend the graduation of Libyan officers trained in Sudan as part of the security and military agreement which he signed last year when Minister of Defence.
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