Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil El-Arabi's visit to Sudan this week reflects the two states' wish to develop sound ties reflecting common interests Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil El-Arabi and his Sudanese counterpart Ali Karti conducted talks dealing with progress in Sudanese-Egyptian relations and the means of pushing forward bilateral cooperation at all levels in the Sudanese capital Khartoum this week, while steering away from discussing the future of the disputed border area of Halayeb and Shalateen, reports Doaa El-Bey. The two top officials expressed their countries' keenness to develop sound ties built on mutual interests, Karti saying that Sudan needed Egyptian support on many issues, particularly those relating to the relationship between north and south Sudan, the Abyei crisis and the International Criminal Court (ICC) indictment of Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir, who faces an arrest warrant from the ICC on charges of alleged war crimes in the western region of Darfur. Egypt aims to expand cooperation with Khartoum ahead of the anticipated separation between north and south Sudan on 9 July. During his visit, El-Arabi promised Egyptian support for developments in Darfur, presenting the region with a mobile clinic, the gift of the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, to provide medical assistance to the people of Darfur. The meeting was the second between the Egyptian and Sudanese ministers since a first meeting in Egypt last month. The meetings come as part of efforts to build relations between the two countries, with exchanges being agreed at all levels to move forward on political and economic issues. One issue not discussed at last week's meeting was the disputed border region of Halayeb and Shalateen, though this could affect future relations between the two countries until the dispute is resolved. The issue was raised before El-Arabi's visit when the governor of the Sudanese Red Sea region told the country's media that President Al-Bashir would be visiting the disputed area during a tour this month. Karti later denied that Al-Bashir had any plans to visit Halayeb. El-Arabi said after last week's meeting that the Halayeb issue was not a source of tensions between the two countries, noting that the area could become a "model for integration" while not elaborating. The Halayeb triangle, which overlooks the Red Sea, has been a contentious issue between the two countries since at least as early as 1958, shortly after Sudan gained its independence from Anglo-Egyptian rule. The area has been under Egyptian control since the mid-1990s, but the issue flared up in July last year when al-Bashir made the surprising assertion that Halayeb was Sudanese while addressing a rally of his supporters in the coastal town of Port Sudan. Egypt dismissed the remarks at the time, stressing that its southern borders "are well known to be at latitude 22 degrees." Al-Bashir has rarely brought up the issue publicly in order to avoid creating tensions with Egypt, though observers say that there is a need to resolve the issue privately through dialogue.
