Sudanese-Egyptian committee to meet on Wednesday
May 23, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – The Egyptian-Sudanese Higher Committee (ESHC) would start a two-day meeting at the level of under-secretaries of ministries and experts in Khartoum Wednesday to discuss a number of joint issues including the disputed Halayeb triangle.
Sudanese presidential assistant Musa Mohamed Ahmed said the issue of Halayeb is of great significance, stressing that the government stance in this regard is “constant and declared”.
He told reporters following his meeting with the Vice President Hassabo Monhamed Abdel-Rahman Monday that the government doesn’t deal with Halyeb as a political issue but rather a matter of sovereignty.
Ahmed further pointed to joint efforts that have been made during the previous period to avoid escalation that could adversely impact on the two peoples and nations, expressing confidence that the problem could be overcome.
The Halayeb triangle overlooks the Red Sea and has been a contentious issue between Egypt and Sudan since 1958, shortly after Sudan gained independence from British-Egyptian rule.
The area has been under Cairo’s full military control since the mid-1990’s following a Sudanese backed attempt on former Egyptian president Mohamed Hosni Mubarak’s life.
Egypt brushed aside Sudan’s repeated calls for engaging in direct negotiations to resolve case or referring the dispute to international arbitration.
Relations between Sudan and Egypt have been frosty over the past few years, but they’ve recently begun to thaw thanks to a series of conciliatory diplomatic gestures.
In October 2014, presidents of the two countries upgraded representation in a joint committee aimed at strengthening bilateral ties.
Meetings of the three levels of the ESHC usually begin by the meeting of the under-secretaries and experts followed by the meeting of the foreign ministers and conclude with a presidential meeting between the two heads of states.
Khartoum would host the meeting of the experts and undersecretaries between 25 to 26 May while the ministerial and presidential meetings will be held in Cairo at a later date.
(ST)