Egypt will not name new ambassador to Khartom

An Egyptian diplomatic source who talked to ArabicNews.com on conditions of anonymity said that the Egyptian government decided not to name a new ambassador to Khartoum as was expected; the source also confirmed news published in some Arab newspapers during the last two days, that the long-expected visit to Cairo by Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has been "postponed indefinitely."

Meanwhile a spokesman for the Sudanese Foreign Ministry announced yesterday that both Mustafa Osman Ismail, minister of foreign affairs, and Shareef Altuhami, minister of irrigation, will be heading to Cairo shortly to discuss with their Egyptian counterparts whatever differences of opinion might have recently ensued regarding security cooperation and the restoration of confiscated Egyptian properties in Sudan.

The Sudanese spokesman expressed confidence that all differences will be ironed out and that relations between the two countries will soon be back on their normal track.

Egyptian and Sudanese officials recently concluded an unsuccessful round of negotiations regarding the restoration of Egyptian properties confiscated in 1992 by Sudan's government. A security cooperation agreement between the two countries which was supposed to be signed last month has also been delayed unexpectedly.