Egypt's Morsi due in Khartoum for 'historic' visit

KHARTOUM: Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi arrives in neighbouring Sudan on Thursday for a visit which Khartoum has termed "historic" but which 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 longtime president 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.

"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 "will complete some issues that have already been agreed" when the two leaders held talks in Cairo last September.

These include trade integration, transportation, investment, and the "four freedoms" pact, which gives citizens of each country the right to freely enter and conduct economic activities in the other. It has not been fully implemented.

"Both leaders will discuss how to coordinate their position in international forums," Ahmed added.