UK to boost trade with Sudan despite rights concerns

Mon Jul 26, 2010 6:01pm GMT

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* Britain wants to increase exports to Sudan

* ICC warrant for Bashir won't stop bilateral trade

By Opheera McDoom

KHARTOUM, July 26 (Reuters) - Britain wants to trade more with Sudan, a vast African country whose president is wanted for genocide and war crimes, Britain's new minister for Africa said on Monday.

On his first official visit to Sudan, Henry Bellingham said Britain's new government sought to encourage companies to invest more in Sudan, particularly in its oil and services sectors.

"We will be candid friends of the government," Bellingham told reporters after meeting Sudanese government officials.

"We voiced our concern about certain issues but we also said we want the relationship to be a strong one and one where UK bilateral trade will increase."

Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir was indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Darfur last year. The court later added genocide to the charges, accusing him of orchestrating murders and other crimes in the western region. Continued...

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