May 22, 2006 (AMMAN) — King Abdullah II pledged Jordan's readiness to help rebuild south Sudan in talks Monday with Sudanese First Vice President Silva Kiir, a court statement said.

"Jordan is ready to contribute to rebuild and develop south Sudan as part of efforts to strengthen relations," the king told Kiir, who also heads the autonomous regional government in south Sudan.  The monarch said Jordan could help improve infrastructure in south Sudan, including schools and hospitals, and would examine the possibility of dispatching a Jordanian field hospital to the region. A January 2005 peace deal ended more than two decades of civil war in the south between Kiir's Sudan People's Liberation Movement and the Arab-dominated regime in Khartoum.

It provides for a referendum on independence for the mainly Christian or animist south after a six-year interim period of autonomy. The autonomous regional government is now seeking Arab and international assistance to rebuild the war-devastated south. Kiir, who arrived late Sunday for the three-day visit, also held separate talks with Jordanian Prime Minister Maaruf Bakhit.

Sudan Tribune