Cairo firmly supports for Sudan's unity, which could be attained by peace and development process in the south of the neighboring country, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak reaffirmed yesterday.

Mubarak voiced the support at a joint press conference with Salva Kiir Mayardit, Sudan's first vice president and the president of the southern Sudanese government during his visit to Juba, the capital of southern Sudan.

The Egyptian president has become the first foreign head of state visiting the region since a comprehensive peace agreement was signed between Khartoum and the then rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement in 2005.

Speaking to the reporters, Mubarak underlined the commitment of the Egyptian government to cooperate with the southern Sudanese administration and to push forward the peace and development process in the region.

He disclosed that his meeting with Mayardit reviewed the issues of common concern as well as means of boosting the bilateral relations.

Mubarak announced that a branch of Egypt's University of Alexandria would be opened in Juba in the coming days.

Mayardit, for his part, praised the Egyptian support for Sudan in all the regional and international forums.

He affirmed that southern Sudan was open for Egyptian investors in all fields.

Mubarak arrived in the Sudanese capital Khartoum yesterday morning for his first official visit to the neighbor since he assumed power in 1981.

He revealed that in his talks with his Sudanese counterpart Omer al-Bashir after his arrival in Khartoum, the two sides discussed means of making the unity of Sudan attractive for the southern Sudanese people.