On Friday morning, Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismael received in his office Mr. Mesfin Hagos, the leader of the Eritrean People Liberation Front-Democratic Party (EPLF-DP.) During the ninety-minute session, the two discussed the deteriorating situation in Eritrea.

Mesfin Hagos is visiting the Sudan on an invite from the Sudanese government. A source indicated that the Sudanese foreign minister informed Mr. Mesfin Hagos that the Sudan recognizes the EPLF-DP as an important political force in the Eritrean arena. The minister affirmed Sudan's neutrality regarding the intra-opposition power struggles and went on to state that Sudan has requested all Eritrean opposition organizations not to bring their differences into Sudan and to refrain from engaging in partisan competition in its territories. 

For his part, Mr. Mesfin Hagos, who had previously publicly pledged to return to Eritrea and is reputed to be held in high esteem by the Eritrean Defense Forces, is believed to have requested from the Sudanese a permit to operate a radio station to beam his party�s message to Eritrea.  Mr. Mesfin Hagos also reaffirmed his party's position against external intervention and asserted that changing the Eritrean regime is the sole responsibility of Eritreans.

Meanwhile, Mr. Ahmed Mohammed Nasser, the chair of ELF-RC�s Unity Affairs Desk who had been visiting the Sudan, has traveled to Ethiopia leaving a colleague, Mr. Ibrahim Mohammed Ali, in Khartoum.