Dr. Garang’s comments, which aired Thursday during VOA’s Africa Journal television program, focused on the purpose of his trip to Washington, preparations for his return to Sudan as the country's vice president, and his reaction to the refusal of the Sudanese government to hand over any Sudanese to the International Criminal Court.
Also appearing on the program to discuss current events in Sudan, including the International Criminal Court's announcement of the opening of a war crimes investigation in Sudan's Darfur region, were Ambassador Abdel Bagi Kabeir, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of the Republic of the Sudan; Pagan Okiech, SPLM/A Leadership Council; Jemera Rone, Human Rights Watch; and Yves Sorokobi, Spokesman for the International Criminal Court's Chief Prosecutor in The Hague.
Calls were received from viewers in South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania, and Zambia.
Africa Journal, Voice of America's live studio call-in program, reaches viewers of more than 30 affiliate stations in sub-Saharan Africa. The program is also available on VOA’s website at http://www.voanews.com/english/Africa/AfricaJournal.cfm.
The Voice of America, which first went on the air in 1942, is a multimedia international broadcasting service funded by the U.S. government through the Broadcasting Board of Governors. VOA broadcasts more than 1,000 hours of news, information, educational, and cultural programming every week to an estimated worldwide audience of more than 100 million people. Programs are produced in 44 languages, including English.