CAIRO, March 14 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak on Saturday sent a message of support to his Sudanese counterpart Omar Hassan al-Bashir, reported the official MENA news agency.

    According to MENA, the message was conveyed by Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit and intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, who held a meeting with President al-Bashir during their short visit to Sudan earlier in the day.

    Abul-Gheit told a press conference at the Khartoum airport following the meeting that Egypt stands by Sudan, supports it and seeks to put a halt to Sudan's crisis at all fronts.

    The Egyptian top diplomat did not reveal detailed content of Mubarak's message, but said the Sudanese president thanked President Mubarak, hoping that the visit to Khartoum would contribute to achieving peace for the Sudanese people.

    Abul-Gheit was the highest-ranking foreign official who pays a visit to Sudan since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against President al-Bashir on March 4.

    Before the visit, the Egyptian government had put forward a proposal on an international conference to curb the impacts of the ICC decision, but the proposal was turned down by Khartoum, which argued that the conference could lead to an internationalization of the Darfur issue.

    In the past few days, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak contacted a number of regional and international leaders in the framework of Egypt's efforts to defer the ICC decision.

    Abul-Gheit mentioned the idea of an international conference on Sudan, voicing hope such efforts would produce positive results for Sudan in general and the war-torn region of Darfur in particular.

    It was not a pure Egyptian idea, but one which stems from a resolution issued by the Arab League on July 19, 2008, he said, stressing that the proposal was initiated by Arab countries with Egyptian support and international efforts of the AL, the AU and the UN.

    "If we succeeded in opening the way for achieving a settlement in Darfur, perhaps this will open the way for the wider resolution which we all want," he said.