Sudan's president offers cease-fire when talks start
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
In a rare, high-profile visit to the West, Sudan's president on Friday met with the pope and Italy's premier, and offered to declare a cease-fire with Darfur rebels to coincide with the start of UN-backed peace talks next month.
Past truces have been regularly violated.
Al-Bashir told reporters after meeting Italian Premier Romano Prodi that he was offering a cease-fire linked to the start of negotiations on Oct. 27, in Tripoli, Libya, to "create a positive climate."
"We hope that the negotiations in Tripoli will be the last ones and that they will bring definitive peace," al-Bashir said.