Egypt and Sudan are resolved to settle their differences: envoy
March 8, 2018 (KHARTOUM) – Sudanese Ambassador to Egypt Abdel Mahmood Abdel Halim Thursday said Khartoum and Cairo are resolved to settle the disputed issues that envenomed bilateral relations.
He said his return does not mean the end of the contention with Cairo but it marks the beginning of a serious effort to fix it.
“We returned with a new and determined spirit to remove the obstacles between the two brotherly countries,” he further said.
The ambassador further said the coming period will witness Sudanese-Egyptian meetings not only to solve the outstanding issues between the two countries but also to establish a relationship based on mutual respect and common interests.
Cairo and Khartoum are in cold relation since the removal of the Islamist Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi by the General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in July 2013. But the relationship has deteriorated more over the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and the disputed Halayed triangle.
Last January, Sudan accused Egypt of backing armed elements trained in Eritrea also it recalled its ambassador to Khartoum.
But by the end of January, al-Sisi met twice al-Bashir on the sidelines of the African Union meeting in Addis Ababa, the first was to discuss bilateral relations and the second was with the participation of the Ethiopian Prime Minister to discuss the dam issue.
The Sudanese diplomat said his government proposed to establish joint military patrols to monitor the border and prevent cross-border trafficking and movement of terrorist groups, similar to what exists between Sudan and Chad.
The proposal will be discussed by the joint technical security committees in the near future, he added.
On the contention over Halayeb area, he said they proposed the international arbitration or bilateral negotiations.
(ST)