Egyptian, Sudanese presidents to hold summit in July or August, Libya to join integration

KHARTOUM, Feb 17, 2004 (MENA) — Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and his Egyptian counterpart Husni Mubarak may hold a summit in July or August, Sudanese Minister of Agriculture and Forests Majzub al-Khalifah said on Tuesday.

The Sudanese-Egyptian summit is scheduled to be held before meetings of the higher joint committee, Al-Khalifah, who is head of the Sudanese side to the Egyptian-Sudanese ministerial committee, added.

An experts committee to convene in Cairo in March will work out a long-term Egyptian-Sudanese strategy, he said, stressing that discussions were under way to expand the integration effort between the two countries into a regional drive including Libya.

Relations between Egypt and Sudan will witness a new stage, once an agreement between the two countries on the freedom of residence, movement, work and ownership is approved, Al-Khalifah said. The Sudanese side has finalized steps to implement the agreement and notified Egypt.

Al-Khalifah returned home from Libya on Monday.

The Egyptian educational mission will return to Khartoum this year, as Cairo University will resume its activities in addition to the opening of a branch of Alexandria University in south Sudan, the Sudanese official said.