Sudan’s Bashir flies to Cairo for talks with Egyptian president

October 17, 2014 (KHARTOUM) – Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir travel to Cairo on Saturday for talks with his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, on Ethiopia’s dam project, trade and security issues.

“Presidents Bashir and Sisi will hold talks on bilateral relations and issues of common interest together with a number of issues in the region,” presidential press secretary Emad Sid Ahmed said in statements released on Friday to announce the two-day visit.

From his side, Sudanese ambassador in Egypt said the agenda of the visit includes a close door meeting between the two presidents, meetings by Sudanese ministers with their Egyptian counterparts and an encounter for president Bashir with a number of Egyptian businessmen and investors.

Ambassador Abdel-Mahmood Abdel Haleem added that during the second day of the visit, Sunday, the two presidents will hold a joint session of talks in the presence of their ministers to assess the output of the joint ministerial meetings, and hold a press conference before Bashir’s return to Khartoum.

Sudanese opposition and Egyptian rights groups called on the Egyptian government to arrest Bashir who is accused of committing genocide and war crimes in Darfur region and to hand him over to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Bashir’s delegation includes notable government officials foreign minister Ali Karti who prepared the visit, minister of presidency affairs Salah Wansi, investment minister Mustafa Osman Ismail, labour minister Ishragaha Mahmoud, minister of water resources Mutaz Musa, defence state minister Yahia Mohamed Khair and the direction of National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS), Mohamed Atta al-Moula Abbas.

Egyptian experts say the visit will discuss a number of issues in the interest of the two peoples as the Ethiopian dam project which Cairo fears it would impact negatively on its share of water, the disputed triangle of Halaib and the border security as well as the activation of bilateral relations and trade.

However, Egyptian researcher at the Al-Ahram Centre Ayman Shabana expects that the two sides will seek to minimise their dispute over halaib and focus on the Libyan file, border security and trade between the two countries.

Sudanese information minister Ahmed al-Balal announced on Thursday that Libyan prime minister Abdullah al-Thani is due to arrive in Khartoum on 28 October.

Tripoli has accused Khartoum of supporting extremists groups in the North African nation, although Sudan denies the accusations.

The Libyan prime minister held talks with Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on 7 October, with reports saying he is seeking Egyptian support to form a regular army in Libya.

(ST)