Gernot Erler, Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office, will leave Sunday for a four-day trip to the Sudan (15-18 February).

In the capital city Khartoum, he will meet to assess the current situation and have political talks with Vice President Ali Osman Taha, presidential advisers Atabani and Nafie Ali Nafie and the heads of the UN missions in the Sudan, UNMIS and UNAMID. Talks with representatives from Sudanese civil society are also planned.

The discussions will focus on bilateral, humanitarian and regional issues, particularly the conflict in Darfur.

In the southern Sudanese city of Juba, the Minister of State will meet with the South Sudanese Vice President Rieck Machar Teny, as well as with German military observers working for UNMIS and representatives of the South Sudanese government and civil society. Further topics of discussion will be German development cooperation with southern Sudan, the preparation of the 2009 elections and the role of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel organization.

Read more on Germany's bilateral relations to the Sudan: