Sudan to Boycott Regional Meet Over Arms Controversy

Top Sudanese government officials will boycott a regional Inter-Government Authority on Development (IGAD) meeting that begins in Kenya next week over the controversial arms shipment that was rumoured to have been secretly destined for its semi-autonomous South through Kenya. Sources say neither President Omar al-Bashir nor Foreign Minister Deng Alor will attend the October 26-29 meeting. Instead, Khartoum will send its junior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ahmed bin Abdullah al Mahmoud. The apparent row between the two countries concerns a controversial arms shipment seized in September by Somali pirates, which Kenya claimed but is widely believed to have been destined for South Sudan. Recently, Sudan’s Energy minister Zubain Mohamed Salih cancelled his scheduled visit to Nairobi, at which he was expected a deal that would allow Kenya to import oil at a cheaper rate from Sudan. [PE]