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20 August 2012 - 23:42

Iran in a message condoled with the people and government of Sudan over the death of the country's officials and citizens in a recent plane crash.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi on Monday condoled with his Sudanese counterpart Ali Karti on the death of a group of Sudanese nationals in a passenger plane which crashed in Sudan on August 19.

In a message to Karti, Salehi expressed condolences and sympathy with the Sudanese nation and government.

"The tragic news of the plane crash which claimed several lives grieved me and the Iranian nation," the message said.

He prayed to God for the peace of soul of the victims.

A Sudanese cabinet minister was among 31 people killed on Sunday when an airplane crashed as it carried a delegation to war-torn South Kordofan state for Muslim Idul Fitri holiday celebrations, officials and state media said.

"All people on board were killed," Abdelhafiz Abdelrahim, spokesman for the Sudan Aviation Authority, said.

Among the dead was Khartoum's Guidance and Endowments Minister Ghazi Al-Saddiq, the official SUNA news agency said, reporting that 26 people were aboard the aircraft.

Speaking on the official Radio Omdurman, Culture and Information Minister Ahmed Bilal Osman said the plane "crashed into a hill" because of bad weather, killing the entire delegation.
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News ID 182500