Khartoum – Abedalgyom Ashmeag
A Jordanian high level delegation led by Jordanian deputy security chief Mohamed Abdallah al-Rakkad concluded their visit to Sudan with a meeting with the general director of Sudanese police, Lieutenant General Hashim Othman. They discussed ways of joint cooperation between Sudanese and Jordanian police and ways to support them. He also assured the Sudanese General Director of the conditions of the Jordanian police forces participating in the joint African Union/UN Mission in Darfur (UNAMID). Colonel al-Rakkad revealed in a statement that the meeting discussed common causes of concern for the police in the two countries and cooperation in the fields of joint training in Jordanian Royal Police Academies and the Sudanese Faculty of Police Sciences and Law. He said the delegation met officials in Khartoum and North Darfur. The delegation, arrived to Khartoum at the beginning of the week “to follow UN delegation measures concerning the kidnap of two Jordanian soldiers last week in a market in North Darfur as communications intensified for their release" according to the North Darfur governor Othman Mohamed Yusuf. Jordanian Charge d’Affaires in Khartoum Riyadh al-Najada described Jordanian relations with Sudan as unique and denied reports that the Jordanian embassy introduced new measures for traveling from Sudan to Jordan. He assured in a statement to Arabstoday Thursday that the procedure has not changed and that the original conditions for the entrance visa to Jordan have not changed either. He added that anyone who wished to receive treatment in Jordanian hospitals needed to provide documents proving the patient’s condition and need for treatment. The visa for this category is issued within hours. As for other cases like trade, tourism and work, there are other arrangements but in most cases they are given the visa. He revealed that the numbers of citizens who left Sudan for Jordan last year exceeded 16,000 with most leaving for medical purposes. Al-Najada clarified that the Jordanian embassy in Khartoum received emergency cases on official holidays (Friday and Saturday) and described meetings with the Sudanese side as being characterised by a keenness to develop relations and increase cooperation between the two countries. He also pointed out an increase in the movement of Jordanian investors to Sudan to make use of the available investment opportunities in the agricultural and industrial fields. He added that relations between Sudan and Jordan did not witness any kind of tension during their long course but are always developing and showing progress.