Sudan hopes Bush will improve ties

CAIRO — Sudan didn't fare well under the Clinton administration and hopes this will change when President-elect George W. Bush takes office on Jan. 20.

Sudanese officials have been relaying signals to the incoming Bush team that they seek to improve relations with Washington. Currently, the Khartoum regime is under U.S. sanctions, imposed on the list of nations that sponsor terrorism.

Sudanese President Omar Bashir has sent messages through Egypt that urges a dialogue with Washington to improve relations. Bashir has signalled his willingness to address the concerns of the United States.

"We have no interest in seeing relations with the United States tense, but the Clinton administration persisted in its hostility and has committed many mistakes against us," Bashir told the Egyptian news agency, MENA. "But we will not blame the new administration for the sins of the old one. We are receiving Bush with an open heart, and will exert all efforts to improve relations and convince the new administration that the conceptions of its predecessor regarding Sudan were not right."

Bashir said he hopes the incoming Bush administration will reevaluate relations with Sudan.

In the interview, Bashir reiterated his pledge to develop the south, much of which is under control of rebels. The president, who was elected last month amid an opposition boycott, said he supports an Egyptian-Libyan peace plan to end the 17-year civil war.

The president said the Egyptian-Libyan plan is being blocked by the head of the Sudanese People's Liberation Army, John Garang. Bashir accused Garang of being a tool of the United States and other countries which aim to capture Sudanese land and resources.