CAIRO: Egypt Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr visited Juba on Monday, coming from Khartoum within the framework of efforts exerted by Egypt to mend the rift between South Sudan and its northern neighbor. Amr met with President of South Sudan Salva Kiir Mayardit to probe ways of bringing about calm on the border between North and South Sudan.
During the meeting, Amr voiced Egypt's deep concern over the tensions between the two countries, asserting Egypt's readiness to help bring the two sides back to the negotiating table to try to peacefully solve pending issues.
The talks also tackled the issue of border demarcation between Sudan and South Sudan as well as ending disputes on the border areas and stopping any kind of support for the rebels across the joint borders and the issue of oil, which is expected to have a bad impact on the relations between the two countries. Egypt's effort to settle the dispute between the two sides comes to complete the previously proposed initiatives, mainly by the African Union, Amr said. In Khartoum, Amr conveyed a message from head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi to Sudanese president Omar Bashir over the current tensions between Khartoum and Juba in Heglig. The top diplomat also held on-camera talks with officials at the Sudanese Foreign Ministry on means of bringing closer views between Khartoum and Juba. He met with Sudanese President Omar Bashir and a number of Sudanese officials, including Sudanese State Minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Salahuddin Wansi, Amr Roshdi, foreign ministry spokesman, said.
