Egypt reportedly tries to normalize relations between Eritrea, Sudan

Eritrean opposition Awate.com web site on 10 September 2003

An Egyptian presidential envoy is visiting Khartoum in an effort to mediate between Eritrea and the Sudan. The initiative is being conducted at the request of the Eritrean government which approached Cairo expressing its intent to normalize its relations with the Sudan.

This is not the first time such effort has been attempted. A few months ago, the head of the Egyptian delegation now visiting Sudan had tried to arrange a meeting between Sudanese president Umar al- Bashir and Eritrean President Isayas Afewerki.

The meeting was scheduled to be held in Libya under the auspices of Colonel Gaddafi of Libya. The meeting was never held.

Egypt considers the Eritrean government an ally in fulfilling its ambitions as the prominent regional power. The Eritrean government has considerable influence over Sudanese opposition forces who have been offered offices and military camps in Eritrea since 1995.

The Eritrean government finds itself edged out by Europe, the Arab League and the US in its effort to play “kingmaker” in the Sudan. Now that the “Sudanese conflict has been internationalized,” according to a diplomatic source, “Eritrea’s influence over the Sudanese opposition is likely to wane.

” If the Egyptian delegation’s effort bears fruit, the Eritrean government is expected to re- establish diplomatic relationships with the Sudanese government and expel the Sudanese opposition from Eritrea.

The deal would, according to the source, “provide relief to the Eritrean government from the isolation it finds itself in” as well as help Egypt by “realigning Sudan with Egypt and away from Ethiopia,” another country which considers itself a regional power.