With tension high over the war in Iraq and US relations with Damascus reaching critical point, Assad greeted Beshir at the airport along with a high-ranking host delegation, including vice-president Abdel Halim Khaddam.

The two leaders immediately embarked on a round of talks devoted to the Iraqi crisis as well as "regional developments and bilateral relations", the agency reported.

Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail accompagnied Beshir and they were due to make a short stopover in Saudi Arabia after the visit to Damascus, the official Khartoum-based al-Anbaa newspaper reported.

SPACE.WIRE