(AFP) – 2 hours ago

KHARTOUM — Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who faces an international warrant for genocide, will start a two-day visit to Libya on Wednesday, Sudan's official news agency reported.

The president will be accompanied by intelligence chief Mohammed Atta to discuss "bilateral relations" with Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, the Suna news agency reported.

Sudan closed its border with Libya at the start of the month, saying the main thoroughfare to the frontier was threatened by bandits and rebels.

Khartoum denied the move was in response to Libya's sheltering of rebel leader Khalil Ibrahim, whose Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) agreed a truce with Khartoum before it unravelled amid renewed clashes in the western Darfur region.

JEM suspended in May its participation in Qatar-hosted peace talks aimed at ending the Darfur conflict, which the United Nations says has killed 300,000 people since 2003.

Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged genocide and war crimes during the war, was in Libya last March to attend an Arab summit.