CAIRO- Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit Saturday reiterated that a disputed territory with Sudan is Egyptian. "Egypt's southern border is known at altitude 22," said the official when asked to comment on statements made last week by President Omar al-Bashir that his government will never foresake Halayeb. "There is agreement between (Egyptian President Hosni ) Mubarak and President al-Bashir that the whole area on the northern and southern sides of the altitudes becomes an area of integration and development," added Abul Gheit. "Halayeb is Sudanese and will stay Sudanese" Bashir told crowds at the coastal town of Port Sudan marking the 21st anniversary of his military coup on Wednesday. The remark by the Sudanese president is a rare one as he avoided public mention of the disagreement with Egypt over the area but generally referred to it as a possible integration zone between the two countries. Sudan's official media, however, omitted any mention to this portion of Bashir's speech. Sudan has avoided registering voters inside Halayeb for the elections which took place last April despite earlier assertions that the region was included as a constituency. Relations between the neighboring countries appeared to have soured this month after the newly appointed foreign minister Ali Karti criticized Egypt saying its understanding of Sudan issues is minimal. Cairo asked Khartoum for clarifications regarding the statements attributed to Karti and secretly dispatched a delegation to defuse tension. Egypt and Sudan are jointly fighting a major battle with other Nile Basin countries that want reallocation of water shares stipulated by colonial agreements in 1929.
