To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to promote confidence-building measures with the President of the Government of Southern Sudan, Salva Kiir, following the cancellation of a scheduled visit to the United Kingdom. [HL5099]

We regret the cancellation of President Kiir's visit to the UK, planned for 13 to 14 July 2009, which would have been an opportunity to underline UK commitment to Southern Sudan and our support for implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).

I spoke to President Kiir on 20 July 2009 to express our disappointment that the visit had not gone ahead and our hope that we would be able to reschedule. We also spoke about the challenges faced in implementation of the CPA and the importance of the Abyei decision later this week.