Egypt’s Morsi visit to Sudan ‘historic’: official

March 31, 2013 (KHARTOUM) – The visit scheduled by Egyptian president Muhammad Morsi to Khartoum next Thursday is “historic”, a Sudanese official said today.

The Sudanese presidency press secretary Emad Sid Ahmed said in press statements that Morsi will discuss with his counterpart Omer Hassan al-Bashir ways of strengthening bilateral relations.

Ahmed said that Morsi will also meet with senior figures in the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and otherpolitical parties as well as Egyptian expatriates living in Sudan.

Relations between the two countries have appeared to sour recently after Khartoum said that Cairo is stalling the implementation of the Four Freedoms agreement signed in 2004.

The Sudanese government also protested meetings by Darfur rebel figures with Egyptian ruling party officials in Cairo.

Furthermore, Sudanese officials have privately expressed unhappiness with Morsi’s reluctance to visit Egypt’s southern neighbor despite being in power for almost a year and making trips to many other countries.

(ST)