Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court, held talks with Egypt's Mohamed Morsi in Cairo on Sunday, officials said. Bashir was met at Cairo's airport by Vice President Mahmud Mekki, and arrived with a large delegation of ministers.
He met Morsi and the two discussed "ways to strengthen bilateral ties and co-operation, as well as recent developments in the Arab world and the Middle East," the official MENA news agency reported.
The meeting was then enlarged to include ministers from both countries.
The two-day visit is Bashir's first to Egypt since Islamist Morsi's election in June, following a popular uprising last year that toppled Hosni Mubarak.
Both Egypt and Sudan have been reeling from violent protests sparked by an anti-islam film. Ahead of Bashir's trip, Amnesty International called on Egypt to withdraw its invitation to the Sudanese leader "and arrest him if he travels to Cairo."
"If Egypt welcomes Omar al-Bashir it will become a safe haven for alleged perpetrators of genocide," said Marek Marczynski, Amnesty International Justice Research, Policy and Campaign Manager.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued two arrest warrants in 2009 and 2010 against Bashir, who is accused of genocide and crimes against humanity in the western Sudanese region of Darfur.
Egypt, which is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, has in the past ignored the warrants, with Bashir visiting Cairo in 2009, weeks after the first warrant was issued, and in 2011 to meet the military rulers who took power after Mubarak's overthrow.
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