U.S. Congress visit to Sudan put off due to gov't shutdown

KHARTOUM, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Sudanese parliament on Saturday announced the postponement of a visit by a U.S. Congress delegation to Sudan that was supposed to begin on Sunday.

"The visit of the U.S. Congress delegation, set for tomorrow (Sunday), has been postponed," Abdul-Majid Haroun, spokesman of the Sudanese parliament, said in a statement.

He said the postponement was due to a U.S. congressional circular that requires all members not to leave the U.S. and to cancel all external missions until the issue of the federal budget is addressed.

On Wednesday, Ibrahim Ahmed Omer, speaker of the Sudanese National Assembly, announced that a U.S. congress delegation would visit Sudan to discuss the possibility of removing Sudan from the U.S. list of countries sponsoring terrorism as well as issues relating to human rights.

The delegation was scheduled to meet with Sudan's First Vice-President Bakri Hassan Saleh, the chief of the National Intelligence and Security Services and other officials.

The U.S. government shut down at midnight on Friday after the Senate failed to pass a stopgap spending bill. Enditem