Khartoum welcomes Iran's president

KHARTOUM, Sudan, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- The Iranian and Sudanese presidents during talks in Khartoum said Monday that Western powers were trying to stoke divisions in the Muslim world.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived Monday in Khartoum to meet with his Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Bashir.

Western delegates walked out of Ahmadinejad's speech last week before the U.N. General Assembly after he launched into a tirade against the United States and its allies.

Ahmadinejad was quoted by the semiofficial Fars News Agency in Iran as saying that "enemies" have been mobilized against Islamic nations "with all their power."

Tehran was spared from the political turmoil gripping much of the region. It faced harsh criticism for its brutal crackdown against an opposition movement that gained steam after Ahmadinejad's controversial 2009 election.

Bashir called for regional solidarity, noting "all the plots hatched by the enemies to create a rift and division among Muslims should be unveiled."

Bashir, wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes committed during the country's civil war, has faced criticism from the international community for ethnic violence along the border with South Sudan.