STOCKHOLM, May 5 (Xinhua) -- An international donors' conference on Sudan
which opens in the Norwegian capital of Oslo on Monday is expected to review and
strengthen the international commitment to the country.
The three-day Sudan Donor Nations Conference will review progress on the
implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), a 2005 peace deal
that ended more than two decades of civil war in Sudan, the Norwegian public
broadcaster NRK reported.
The meeting is also expected to generate new pledges of aid and donations
to support reconstruction and further development in Sudan.
In April 2005, Norway hosted the first Sudan Donor Nations Conference after
the signing of the CPA between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's
Liberation Movement (SPLM) in January2005.
"We are very pleased to again be able to host an international donor
conference to support peace and development in Sudan," Erik Solheim, Norway's
minister of the Environment and International Development, was quoted as saying.
"This is an important opportunity for the Sudan Government of National
Unity (GONU), the Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS) and the international
community to reconfirm their commitment to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement,"
the minister added.
High-level political participation is expected at the conference from Sudan
and from international donors.
Last week, the UN Security Council voted unanimously to extend the UN
peacekeeping mission in southern Sudan.
Recent fighting in Sudan's southern Kordofan province between south
Sudanese troops and Arab tribesmen have left dozens of people dead and
threatened to wreck the 2005 peace deal.