KHARTOUM (AFP) – Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi arrives in neighbouring Sudan on Thursday for a visit which Khartoum termed historic but 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 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 follows up on talks which the two leaders held in Cairo last September.
Morsi was due to land at about 1300 GMT.