Egypt’s FM arrives in Khartoum for joint committee meeting

April 19, 2017 (KHARTOUM) – The Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry has arrived in Khartoum on Wednesday for a bilateral meeting of the joint Sudanese-Egyptian political consultation committee.

The visiting minister was received at Khartoum Airport by his Sudanese counterpart, Ibrahim Ghandour. Last week Shoukry cancelled his visit to Khartoum due to bad weather conditions.

The meeting is expected to discuss contentious issues between the two countries besides the implementation of agreements signed during the high-level presidential summit between President Omer al-Bashir and President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi in October last year.

In a press conference ahead of the meeting, Egypt’s consul in Khartoum Wiam Sweilem Wednesday urged media outlets in both countries to abort all attempts “to spread false news that could harm relations and ignites sedition between the two countries and peoples”.

He called on “officials, media and social media users to verify the accuracy of news reports published and circulated especially with regard to statements attributed to officials in the two nations”.

Sweilem further stressed “importance of the Sudanese-Egyptian relations on all political, economic, cultural and social fields”, underscoring deep ties between the peoples of the two nations.

The political consultation committee is a sub-committee of the Egyptian-Sudanese high committee, which also includes sub-committees for military affairs, security, economics and finance, transportation, education, culture, health, water resources and agriculture.

Tensions between Khartoum and Cairo have escalated following the former’s decision to restrict imports of Egyptian farming products which was reciprocated by Cairo’s decision to raise residency fees for Sudanese living in Egypt.

Also, senior Sudanese border demarcation official last month disclosed that 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.

Some Egyptian media outlets have recently launched a campaign ridiculing Sudan’s cultural monuments and in particular the 4,600 years old Meroe Pyramids following the visit of the Queen Mother of Qatar Sheikha Moza Bint Nasser Al-Missned to the Sudanese pyramids.

Earlier this month, Sudan issued a decision requiring Egyptian nationals seeking to enter its territory to obtain entry visas, saying the measure aims to reduce the threat of terrorist attacks and it was taken in coordination with the Egyptian authorities.

(ST)