Egypt’s Morsi to visit Sudan in April
March 14, 2013 (KHARTOUM) – The chairman of Egypt’s governing Freedom and Justice party (FJP), Saad El-Katatni said today that Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi is expected to visit to Sudan in early April, declaring that Egypt can surpass its difficult economic conditions by investing in Sudan.
Al-Katatni, who was speaking at a joint news conference with deputy chairman of Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party (NCP) Nafie Ali Nafie in Khartoum, said the visit had been arranged through diplomatic missions and “according to my personal information, Morsi will be in Khartoum early April”.
Some Sudanese officials have privately expressed disappointment with Morsi for not making Khartoum his first destination following his election in June 2011.
Last month the head of Egyptian affairs at the Sudanese foreign ministry Esam Awad criticized Cairo for stonewalling the Four Freedoms agreement signed in 2004 and for failing to return 100 vehicles belonging to Sudanese gold miners who entered into Egypt by mistake.
Awad stressed that Sudan did not forfeit its sovereignty claims over the disputed border triangle of Halayeb but added that the time is not ripe for discussing the matter because of the current political instability in Egypt.
Nafie echoed the sentiment saying that Sudan doesn’t want to distract the Egyptian government by raising the issue of Halayeb while it addresses difficult internal political challenges, stressing that the dispute will not affect “eternal relations” between the two countries.
On Egyptian investments in Sudan, al-Katatni said that Khartoum made huge efforts to overcome obstacles, stressing that an earlier visit by al-Bashir to Egypt had opened the door for increased Egyptian investments in Sudan.
For his part, Nafie expressed confidence that Cairo will work to correct the situation created by the ex-regime who he says was harboring Sudanese opposition and armed movements.
The Sudanese ambassador in Cairo filed a complaint this month with the Egyptian government this month for hosting some of the rebel figures on its territory who held meetings with several Egyptian parties.
Nafie praised the popular relations between Egypt and Sudan, while slamming “undemocratic” opposition parties in both countries whom he says are refusing to engage in dialogue.
(ST)