Morsi due in 'historic' Khartoum visit
SUDAN: Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi arrived in neighbouring Sudan
on Thursday for a visit which Khartoum has termed "historic" but which
an analyst said should have come sooner.
The two-day trip is the Muslim Brotherhood leader's first to Sudan,
which Egypt jointly ruled with Britain until 1956.
Morsi was elected last June after a popular uprising toppled longtime
president Hosni Mubarak.
Official media in Sudan said Morsi is to hold talks with his fellow
Islamist, President Omar al-Bashir, as well as political party leaders
and members of the local Egyptian community.
"It is a historic visit because of the strategic depth of the
relations between the people of the two countries, and both leaders are
elected," Emad Sayed Ahmed, Bashir's press secretary, told AFP. "On the
contrary, it comes too late," University of Khartoum political scientist
Safwat Fanous said, noting Morsi had already visited several other
countries including India and Pakistan.
Bashir's press secretary said the visit "will complete some issues
that have already been agreed" when the two leaders held talks in Cairo
last September.
These include trade integration, transportation, investment, and the
"four freedoms" pact, which gives citizens of each country the right to
freely enter and conduct economic activities in the other.
AFP
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