Sudan: UK Minister for Africa, Baroness Kinnock, will visit Khartoum and Juba 10-13 January, 2010

Baroness Kinnock will be in Sudan on 10-13 January for wide ranging discussions. Her visit coincides with the 5th anniversary of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).

From UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office (via ISRIA)
'Crucial times for Sudan'
09 Jan 2010

Minister for Africa, Baroness Kinnock, will visit Khartoum and Juba from 10 January until 13 January and will meet with representatives from the Government, civil society and international partners.

Ahead of the visit Baroness Kinnock said:

'These are crucial times for Sudan as the 5th anniversary of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) approaches. There has been good progress in recent weeks, with agreements on the referendum law, on the details of the Abyei referendum and on the popular consultations in Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan.

But a great deal is still left to be done for credible elections, border demarcation and to ensure a workable relationship between North and South, regardless of the referendum outcome.

As a guarantor of the CPA the UK will work with the Government of Sudan, and the Government of the South, to ensure that the next year delivers the long-term peace and security. Contentious issues need to be resolved through political dialogue, and without violence. The rights to peaceful protest, freedom of assembly and freedom of speech must be respected. As Prime Minister Gordon Brown noted, Sudan's leaders have a duty to rise to the challenge, to turn an interim agreement into lasting peace for all their people, including in Darfur.

I have visited Sudan many times and certainly understand the task is to ensure that peace, security and reconciliation can be enjoyed by all the people of Sudan.'

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Further reading

Click here to read more about Welsh born Baroness Kinnock.

Note CNBC report Jan 5, 2010 by Robin Knight:
England Should be Separated from Scotland: Economist

Extract from Wikipedia re Great Britain:

The term "Great Britain" (and the abbreviation 'GB') is the traditional 'short form' of the full country title 'the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland', although usage of 'the UK' has increased more recently. Most of England, Scotland, and Wales are on the island of Great Britain, as are their respective capital cities, London, Edinburgh, and Cardiff.

The Kingdom of Great Britain resulted from the political union of the kingdoms of England and Scotland with the Acts of Union 1707 on 1 May, 1707 under Queen Anne.

In 1801, under a new Act of Union, this kingdom merged with the Kingdom of Ireland to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. After the Irish War of Independence, most of Ireland seceded from the Union. Currently the kingdom is named the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.