TUNIS- Sudan wants to sell international Islamic bonds, or sukuk, worth nearly $1 billion this year, its finance minister said on Thursday.

"The Sudanese government will issue a sukuk (worth) nearly 1 billion dollars for the first time this year," Mohamed Othman Rukabi told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in Tunis.

"It will be late this year to finance the 2018 budget," he said, without giving details.

(Reporting by Tarek Amara Writing by Ulf Laessing) ((Ulf.Laessing@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: follow me on twitter @ulflaessing))