Egypt presidential hopeful declines meeting with Sudan’s Bashir: report Article Comments (7) Email PrintSave --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
March 9, 2011 (WASHINGTON) – A prospective Egyptian presidential candidate and Nobel peace prize laureate has turned down an invitation to meet with Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir during his visit to Cairo, a newspaper reported today. Egyptian Nobel Peace laureate and former UN atomic watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei (L) and Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir (R) The independent Al-Masry Al-Youm quoted sources as saying that Mohamed ElBaradei, who heads the National Coalition for Change (NCC), did not attend the meeting of Egyptian political figures with Bashir. Rifaat Al-Saeed, who is the chairman of the Al-Tagammu Party, also took a similar stance and skipped the meeting. The newspaper did not say why the two men declined the invitation. ElBaradei met with Turkish President Abdullah Gul when he visited Cairo last week. This coincided with ElBaradei’s announcement today that he will run in Egypt’s presidential election this year. The 68-years old figure is the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. On Tuesday, the Sudanese president traveled to Cairo marking the first visit to post-Mubarak Egypt by an Arab leader and one by the only head of state wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Egypt is not a signatory to the ICC’s statute and as such had no obligation to apprehend Bashir. Former president Mubarak had been one of the first leaders to invite his Sudanese counterpart after the issuance of the arrest warrant in what was viewed as a show of solidarity. Mubarak even scrapped plans to host the third France-Africa summit last year after Paris objected to Cairo’s insistence on inviting Bashir. Despite this, Bashir was quick to congratulate the Egyptian people when they ousted their veteran leader last month after weeks of protests, hailing the "triumph" of their revolution. He even suggested that Mubarak’s suppression of Islamists led to the demise of his regime. The Sudanese president met with Field Marshall Tantawi who heads the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces and discussed bilateral relations and coordinating regional and international positions, according to state media. Some observers have linked the visit to the move made by Burundi this month in which it joined an agreement to alter historic water-sharing arrangements for the River Nile that is vehemently opposed by Egypt. Sudan, is an important ally for Egypt in its efforts to block the initiative by upstream Nile countries that would allow them to implement irrigation and hydropower projects without first seeking Cairo’s consent. Al-Masry Al-Youm said that Bashir asked for Tantawi’s permission to meet with representatives of political forces in the country. The report said that only leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood movement and another from the Democratic Front showed up for talks with the Sudanese president at the Qubba Palace in East Cairo. Isam Al-Aryan from the Muslim Brotherhood said that Bashir urged Egypt to utilize agricultural lands in Sudan for planting wheat. He quoted the Sudanese leader as saying that he had extended this offer to Mubarak’s government in the past but they had rejected it because of U.S. pressure. Bashir also expressed readiness to receive one million Egyptian farmers, Al-Aryan said. (ST) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "JFD info" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/jfdinfo?hl=en.
