EU SEEKS DIALOGUE WITH SUDAN ON DEATH PENALTY

a delegation of European diplomats arrived in southern Sudan seeking Sudan's support for a European Union call for a moratorium on the death penalty. "There is a particular concern which is important for the European Union... which is the issue of the death penalty and the call by the EU on the moratorium on the execution of the death penalty," said French ambassador to Sudan, Christine Robichon. The interim constitution of semi-autonomous southern Sudan upholds the death sentence for those who commit the most serious crimes, and who are aged between 18 and 70, with pregnant women exempt. The three days of scheduled talks mark the first time that such a large group of EU diplomats are holding dialogue in southern Sudan.