Sudan's Al Bashir meets Al Assad in Damascus: Syria
Al Assad meets Sudanese counterpart at Damascus airport on Saturday
Damascus: Sudan’s President Omar Al Bashir visited Damascus on Sunday, the Syrian presidency said, in his first such visit to the war-torn country since the start of the conflict.
“President Omar Hassan Al Bashir... arrived this afternoon on a visit to the Syrian Arab Republic,” the presidency said.
President Bashar Al Assad went to meet his Sudanese counterpart at the Damascus airport on Saturday afternoon, the presidency said.
They discussed the “situations and crises faced by many Arab countries”, it said.
The two leaders also stressed the need to build “new principles for inter-Arab relations based on the respect of the sovereignty of countries and non-interference in internal affairs”.
The Arab League suspended Syria’s membership at the end of 2011 following months of brutal repression of anti-regime demonstrations.
A Sudanese official late Sunday said that Bashir had returned to Khartoum “from an important visit” to the Syrian capital.
The Sudanese president last visited the Syrian capital in 2008 for the Arab League summit which was held there that year.
Syria’s war has killed more than 360,000 people and displaced millions since it started in 2011.
It has since spiralled into a complex conflict involving extremists including Daesh and world powers.