Al-Bashir instructs to resolve outstanding issues with Egypt: ambassador

January 17, 2018 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s Ambassador to Cairo Abdel-Halim Abdel-Mahmoud said President Omer al-Bashir has instructed him to seek to resolve all outstanding issues with Egypt.

The are several issues between Cairo and Khartoum including Sudan support to the Ethiopian renaissance dam, border dispute over Halayeb triangle and the ban on Egyptian farming products.

The latest tensions have sparked between Sudan and Egypt after the former signed an agreement to temporarily hand over the Red Sea island of Suakin to Turkey.

On 4 January Sudan summoned its ambassador to Cairo for consultation, hours after the head of the Sudanese Border Technical Committee, Abdallah Al-Sadiq, accused Egypt of trying to drag Sudan into a direct military confrontation over Halayeb.

However, the Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi on Monday said his country isn’t conspiring against Sudan and Ethiopia stressing Egypt isn’t planning to go to war against its “brothers”.

Following his meeting with al-Bashir on Wednesday night, Abdel-Halim said they discussed recent developments in Sudan-Egypt relations as well as the situation in the region.

He told the official news agency SUNA that al-Bashir instructed him to work towards resolving the outstanding issues between the two countries, saying he also reassured the President on the conditions of the Sudanese community in Egypt.

According to Abdel-Halim, al-Bashir underlined his confidence that the Sudanese diplomacy is capable of forging good ties with all neighbouring countries on the bases of common interests and mutual respect.

(ST)