Cairo - Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir arrived in Cairo on Sunday for talks with Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak about recent Egyptian efforts to strike a peace deal in Darfur.

Al-Bashir is also set to brief Mubarak on Sudan's efforts to implement a 2005 comprehensive peace agreement in southern Sudan, Sudan's ambassador to Egypt and permanent representative to the Arab League, Abdel-Moneim Mabrouk, told reporters.

Renewed fighting between the tribes of southern Sudan has left more than 1 000 people dead since the beginning of the year.

David Gressly, the head of the United Nations' mission to southern Sudan, last week expressed concern about the violence, but stressed that progress had been made.

"The continuing violence in some parts of the region is a direct consequence of two civil wars, a very high level of armament among the civilian population and continued frictions between neighboring communities over vital resources like water and pasturage," he told reporters on July 8.

Mubarak and al-Bashir are also expected to discuss preparations for Sudanese presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for January 2010, and developments in the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant for al-Bashir, Mabrouk said.

Egypt, a close ally of the Sudanese government in Khartoum, hosted delegates of several Sudanese rebel groups, including the Sudan Liberation Army and the United Resistance Front, on Saturday.

Al-Bashir is scheduled to stay in Egypt through the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement, scheduled to take place Wednesday and Thursday in the Sinai resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, Mabrouk said. - Sapa-dpa

Published on the Web by IOL on 2009-07-12 15:08:26