Sudan’s Bashir in Egypt in sign of thawing ties

By Mahmoud al-Husseini

CAIRO (AA) – Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir arrived in Cairo on Monday for talks with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi.

Bashir’s one-day visit to Egypt comes after relations between the two countries improved following months of tension over a border dispute and a controversial Nile Dam being built by Ethiopia, which Cairo fears will reduce its Nile water share.

Bashir, who leads a high-profile delegation during the visit, was welcomed by al-Sisi at Cairo International Airport.

Talks between the two leaders will tackle “brotherly relations between the two countries in all fields”, the Egyptian Presidency said in an earlier statement.

In late January, al-Sisi and Bashir agreed on the sidelines of an African Union summit in Ethiopia to form a “quadratic consultation mechanism” that involves both countries foreign ministries and intelligence services to resolve outstanding issues.

Egyptian-Sudanese relations have witnessed ups and downs in recent months over an Ethiopian Nile dam and a border dispute between the two countries.

Last week, Sudan invited the foreign and irrigation ministers as well as chief of intelligence of Egypt and Ethiopia to hold meetings over the dam on April 4, for two days.