Mubarak welcomes Sudan president in Cairo

Egypt welcomed Sudan's president on Wednesday despite an international warrant seeking his arrest on charges of war crimes in Darfur. Omar al-Bashir, Sudan's wanted leader, was making his first high-profile journey abroad since the warrant was issued March 4 by the International Criminal Court.

According to the AP, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak received al-Bashir at Cairo's airport along with senior government ministers in a show of solidarity with the Sudanese leader. The two leaders discussed the search for a resolution to the Darfur conflict.

"There is an Egyptian, Arab, African position that rejects the way the court has dealt with the status of the president of Sudan," Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Egypt's foreign minister, said at a news conference.

Sudanese Foreign Minister Deng Alor, who accompanied al-Bashir to Cairo, said Sudan will try government officials on charges related to Darfur crimes in its own courts. "A special Sudanese prosecutor has been appointed specially for Darfur and he is now collecting information on the charges against some of the Sudanese leaders," Alor said.