Even the Region is fed up with Bashir...

This is an interesting piece of news. Not widely known in the EU and US, but Egypt has been a key historical power player in Sudan. It notably supported Nimieri's coup d'etat 1969 and was originally supportive of the 1989 coup (before they discovered that the Islamist NIF was behind it). Egypt and Sudan were once a unified province and Egypt still looks South and sees a recalcitrant, little brother that needs to do what it is told.

For years Egypt opposed an independent South Sudan. Gaining Egypt's agreement to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement was an essential step to its succesful negotition and then signature - and this required international guarantees. Egypt now opposes the government's stance in Darfur and supports the deployment of UN troops - your move Bashir.

Egypt, Sudan postpone meeting among silent crisis
Friday 9 February 2007 05:10.

By Wasil Ali

Feb 8, 2007 (The fifth meeting of the joint Egyptian-Sudanese committee’s that was scheduled to be held in Khartoum mid-February was unexpectedly postponed until March, a London based newspaper has reported.

The daily Al-Hayat was quoting an unidentified senior diplomat as saying that there is a "silent diplomatic crisis evolving between the two countries".

Sources close to the Sudanese government told al Hayat that this is the second time that the Egyptian side has requested rescheduling of the meeting since 2005.

The same source was quoted as saying that there has been growing negative sentiments from Cairo towards Khartoum since the mini-summmit held in Libya last month that was boycotted by the Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir.

The source noted that the Egyptian-Libyan stance al-Bashir’s presidency of the African Union has forced him to withdraw his candidacy. (ST)