Sudan’s FM moves to end Egyptian presence in Halayeb region
March 19, 2017 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s foreign ministry has instructed the concerned bodies to develop a roadmap to end the Egyptian presence in the disputed area of Halayeb triangle, said border demarcation official.
The Halayeb triangle, which is a 20,580 km area on the Red Sea, has been a contentious issue between Egypt and Sudan since 1958, shortly after Sudan gained its independence from the British-Egyptian rule in January 1956.
The area has been under Cairo’s full military control since the mid-1990’s following a Sudanese-backed attempt to kill the former Egyptian President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak.
Head of Sudan’s Technical Committee for Border Demarcation (TCBD) Abdallah al-Sadiq told Sudan Tribune the foreign ministry has met with several government organs including the justice and interior ministries, National Records Office and the TCBD in order to modify files prepared by previous committees on Halayeb.
He pointed the move indicates that the foreign ministry aims to take some action regarding Halayeb issue.
On Sunday, al-Sadiq told the semi-official Sudan Media Center (SMC) that a committee including all concerned bodies has been formed to decide on Halayeb triangle issue.
“The committee held a preparatory meeting to develop guidelines and a road map to explore ways to evict the Egyptians from the area [Halayeb] through diplomacy,” he said.
Al-Sadiq stressed that Khartoum has documents which clearly proves that Halayeb is a Sudanese territory.
Last October, Sudan once again lodged a complaint to United Nation Security Council (UNSC) over Halayeb triangle.
Last April, Cairo refused a demand by the Sudanese government to hold direct talks on Halayeb and Shalateen or to accept the referral of the dispute to the International Court of Arbitration.
Egypt has used to reject Sudan’s repeated calls for referring the dispute to international arbitration.
The international law provides that the agreement of the two parties is needed to arbitrate a dispute by the tribunal.
Also, the Egyptian authorities have imposed restrictions on the entry of Sudanese nationals into the area.
(ST)