The Interior Ministry announced Friday the release of 37 Sudanese men who were detained for allegedly crossing the Egyptian border illegally.

President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi issued a presidency pardon for the prisoners as part of a prisoners exchange deal with Sudan.

For his part, Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir pardoned, in July, 101 Egyptian fishermen detained since April for allegedly trespassing into Sudanese territorial waters without permission.

The fishermen returned to Egypt earlier in August.

Sudanese Ambassador to Egypt Adel Mahmoud Abdel Halim said that Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb notified him that the decision to release the Sudanese miners was issued and that they were transported on Friday morning to Khartoum by a private jet, state-run Al-Ahram reported.