Egypt's Foreign Affairs Minister Sameh Shoukry will begin an African tour on Monday to South Sudan and Kenya, through which he aims to strengthen bilateral cooperation. In his visit to South Sudan, Shoukry will meet with President Salva Kiir to sign a memorandum establishing a mechanism for political consultation between the two countries. He will also meet Nhial Deng Nhial, senior adviser and presidential envoy, as well as members of the National Dialogue Steering Committee. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zaid said that the minister will deliver a shipment of logistical assistance to South Sudan. As for his visit to Kenya, Shoukry will meet Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and will convey to him an oral message from President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, which will include ways to enhance cooperation and enhance relations between the two countries. This will be followed by talks with the Kenyan foreign and defence ministers. In a similar context, Egypt's Acting Head of Intelligence Abbas Kamel met on Sunday with Sudanese officials during his visit to Sudan to boost security cooperation. Kamel visited Sudan in response to an invitation by his counterpart Salah Abdullah and to follow up on updates of the recently formed quadrilateral committee comprising the foreign ministers and intelligence heads of both nations. During his visit, Kamel met with several other Sudanese officials, including President Omar Al-Bashir, and discussed the importance of communication between the two countries, the major challenges facing the region, and ways to maintain relations between two countries. He also met Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour and Sudanese Defence Minister Awad Mohamed Ahmed bin Awaf. Meetings between Kamel and Sudanese officials focused on improving relations, developing security cooperation, and major challenges facing the region. The visit came two days following the return of the Sudanese ambassador to Cairo last Monday, two months after he was recalled to Khartoum due to tensions between the two nations. Earlier in January, Abdel Mahmoud Abdel Halim, Khartoum's ambassador to Cairo, was withdrawn for consultations, amid tensions over sovereignty of the Halayeb and Shalateen triangle, which is located inside Egyptian territories. The newly formed committee, which includes foreign ministers of Egypt and Sudan along with their intelligence agency heads, met in Cairo in February to discuss improving relations between the two countries. This committee was formed following a tripartite summit between the leaders of Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia in January. During the summit, Al-Sisi asserted that Egypt does not interfere in other countries' affairs and has no intention to fight with its brothers in Sudan.
