Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi aims to strengthen bilateral relations with Sudan and has expressed his gratitude to his Sudanese counterpart Omar Al-Bashir, reported state-owned news agency MENA. El-Sisi visited Khartoum on Friday for a few hours to meet with Al-Bashir. After the meeting, the two presidents said at a joint press conference that the upcoming period will witness more cooperation between the two countries in different fields. El-Sisi has also invited Al-Bashir to visit Egypt for more discussions on developmental plans between the two countries. Al-Bashir welcomed El-Sisi`s invitation and expressed his willingness to visit Egypt soon, stressing the importance of the relations between his countries and Egypt. El-Sisi left Sudan late on Friday to return to Egypt, according to Al-Ahram Arabic news website. According to an official from the Sudanese foreign ministry, Abdel-Mahmoud Abdel-Alim, El-Sisi was also checking on his counterpart's health, as Al-Bashir has recently undergone surgery. Abdel-Alim, who according to MENA will be his country's envoy in Cairo, went on to describe El-Sisi's visit as "important" saying it would effectively contribute in developing Egyptian-Sudanese ties in various fields. El-Sisi flew to Khartoum fromEquatorial Guinea's capital Malabo where he was attending the 23rd Ordinary African Union Summit, Egypt's first after the suspension of its membership in the AU was lifted last week. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/104943.aspx
