Ahmadinejad in Sudan to boost ties | Print | E-mail Monday, 26 September 2011 08:39 By Agencies Share Link: Share Link: Bookmark Google Yahoo MyWeb Del.icio.us Digg Facebook Myspace Reddit Ma.gnolia Technorati Stumble Upon Newsvine Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, has met his Sudanese counterpart in Khartoum after arriving on a two-day visit. Ahmadinejad's visit is aimed at boosting political and economic ties between the two allies, Sudanese officials said. Ahmadinejad received a warm welcome from Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir at Khartoum airport. Iran, along with China, is one of the biggest supporters of al-Bashir, who faces indictment from the International Criminal Court (ICC) over alleged war crimes in the long-running Darfur conflict. Shunned by the West, Sudan, which is facing an economic crisis after losing much of its oil wealth to newly-independent South Sudan, is keen to expand trade ties with Iran. Most Western firms avoid Sudan due to a tough US trade embargo. Sudan and Iran have also strong military ties after signing a co-operation agreement in 2008. Al-Bashir has supported the Iranian nuclear programme which Washington says is to build nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies.