Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak discussed Sunday with his visiting Sudanese counterpart Omar al- Bashir on means of securing a lasting peace in the western Sudanese region of Darfur and the reconciliation process in southern Sudan, the state MENA news agency reported.
During al-Bashir's brief stay in Cairo, the two leaders held closed-door talks on the current regional situation and reconciliation efforts in southern Sudan, it said without elaborating, Xinhua reported.
Al-Bashir left Cairo after a Mubarak-hosted luncheon following the tete-a-tete talks. The banquet was also attended by high- ranking Egyptian officials, including Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, and Sudanese diplomats in Cairo.
Prior to the summit, Sudanese Ambassador in Cairo Abdel Monem Mabrouk told BBC news channel that the Qatar-brokered goodwill agreement between his government and the Justice and Equality Movement(JEM), the key rebel group in Darfur, was high on the summit's agenda.
Earlier on Saturday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said Saturday that Egypt is supporting all efforts to bring stability and security in the southern neighboring country.
Abul Gheit said the international community should "avoid unbalanced pressures" on the Sudanese government, according to MENA.
Bashir's visit to Cairo came as the Hague-based International Criminal Courts (ICC) are mulling an arrest warrant against the Sudanese president on alleged war crime charges.
On Feb. 11, the New York Times reported that the three judges of the pre-trial chamber of the ICC, had made a decision on the issue, but the report has been denied by the ICC.
The Sudanese government and JEM on Tuesday signed a framework agreement in Doha, in which both sides are committed to paving the way for peace talks.
But sporadic conflicts broke out Thursday in Darfur between JEM and government forces despite the deal, which fell short of a striking a ceasefire, killing dozens.
The Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani paid a one- day visit to Khartoum Saturday to follow up the efforts for resolving the Darfur issue and implementing the Doha-mediated goodwill agreement.