Egypt wants to mediate Sudan, South crisis

Egypt has said it wants to play mediator in the deepening crisis between Sudan and South Sudan. Egyptian foreign minister Mohammed Kamel Amr met Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir on Sunday and delivered a message from Egypt’s military ruler, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi.  “I came here to listen to the Sudanese vision about the crisis and tomorrow I’m going to Juba to listen to South Sudan,” he told journalists.  “Then we can create a proposal for mediation to solve the crisis if the two parties agree to that,” he added, without disclosing the contents of Tantawi’s message. Sudan's official SUNA news agency said Bashir welcomed Egypt’s role but had told Amr that Sudan refuses to negotiate with the South unless it withdraws from Heglig. Egypt jointly ruled Sudan with Britain until independence in 1956.