Sudan vows not to host Egypt Muslim Brotherhood figures

November 19, 2014 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese government has pledged that it will not host any leader of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood (MB) group.

This declaration was made during a visit to Cairo by a Sudanese delegation aimed at correcting what they see as a negative image portrayed by the Egyptian media on Sudan, particularly as related to harbouring MB leaders after the overthrow of former president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.

The Sudanese state minister for information, Yasser Yusuf, who is heading the delegation stressed that their philosophy of Sudan-Egypt relationship is based on good neighborliness and non-interference in internal affairs and respect for the Egyptian people’s choices.

He said at a press conference on Wednesday at the headquarters of the Middle East News Agency (MENA) in Cairo that the issue of the disputed Halayeb region is to be resolved by Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Sudanese President Omer Hassan al-Bashir.

Yusuf also stressed that there are no MB leaders in Sudan, adding that the day the popular uprising erupted against Morsi is an internal Egyptian affair. He also denied the existence of Sudanese elements seeking to destabilise Egypt.

The Sudanese official noted that Bashir called Sisi to condemn the recent attack against Egyptian soldiers in Sinai, calling it an act of terrorism.

On the relationship between Sudan and the MB, Yusuf said that as a government they only deal with governments.

On the Nile water issue, Yusuf said that the Egyptian-Sudanese water relations are historical ones and despite some brief tensions it has not developed into a dispute adding that there will not be a problem in the future regarding it.

“According to the agreements our share of Nile water is 5.18 billion cubic meters, of which we only consume 4.12 billion cubic metres, and we did not mention this fact in the media before,” Yusuf said.

In reference to the Entebbe agreement on the Nile water, the Sudanese state minister stressed that their position is consistent with the Egyptian one on the convention, adding that they called on all sides to cooperate.

He also denied reports circulated on Egyptian media that a secret agreement was sealed during Morsi’s presidency to amend the borders to grant them sovereignty over Halayeb.

“There are no secret agreements to modify the borders between the two countries, nor can anyone whether Morsi or someone else alter the borders in existence by international agreements,” Yusuf said.

“The borders between Egypt and Sudan have not changed, but when Egypt wanted to build the High Dam, we moved our borders 150km inside our territory in order to build the dam,” he added.

(ST)