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Dutch minister opens first western liaison office in post-war south Sudan
| This'll probably do the southerners more good than any number of UN aid packages... |
Dutch Development Cooperation Minister Agnes van Ardenne Thursday inaugurated the first western liaison office in post-war southern Sudan to in Rumbek, the region's provisional capital. The brief ceremony saw the raising of the Dutch and British flags in front of the office building located near the town's airstrip that will represent the interests of the two countries. "We do have an embassy in Khartoum, but Khartoum is too far away and here in Rumbek it should be done," van Ardenne told reporters. "The liaison office here will be strongly linked to our embassy in Khartoum and the British embassy in Khartoum," she added, saying the aim of having an office in the south was to ease contacts with the region's new leaders. Van Ardenne was the most senior western official to visit the war-ravaged town after Khartoum and the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) signed a peace deal ending Africa's longest conflict. Many nongovernmental organizations and United Nations agencies have already moved their offices from bases in the Kenyan capital Nairobi to Rumbek.
Posted by: Fred 2005-01-22 |
