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Shoukry to Visit Khartoum Wednesday to Diffuse Tensions with Cairo | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry (R) is pictured during a meeting with his Sudanese counterpart Ibrahim Ghandour in Cairo, Egypt, June 3, 2017. (Reuters)


Khartoum– The Sudanese Foreign Ministry said that Egyptian Foreign Affairs Minister Sameh Shoukry would arrive to Khartoum on Wednesday to head a high-level delegation to the joint political consultation committee between Sudan and Egypt.

“Sudan’s Foreign Ministry will host at its premises on Wednesday, August 2, 2017, the meetings of the Sudanese-Egyptian political consultation committee, where Sudan’s Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour will chair Sudan’s side to the meetings and the Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry his country’s side,” a statement by the ministry said.

The foreign ministry’s spokesperson said the meeting would discuss the implementation of the recommendations of the joint presidential cooperation committee, which convened in Cairo last June.

Officials will also tackle the strategic cooperation document, the consulate cooperation, border crossing committee, coordination at regional and international forums as well as development of situations in the region, according to the statement.

Relations between Khartoum and Cairo have been strained and tension reached its peak when Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir accused Egypt of supporting Sudanese rebels and supplying them with Egyptian armored vehicles.

As a result, both countries declared “reciprocity” in consular affairs, whereby the Egyptian authorities prevented Sudanese citizens from entering Egypt, while the Sudanese army complained of what it described as “provocations and harassment” by Egyptian soldiers in the disputed Halayeb triangle.

The dispute over the Halayeb triangle, controlled by Egypt since 1995, is one of the main reasons for tensions in the relations between the two countries.

While Khartoum calls for immediate recourse to arbitration and resolution of the crisis in accordance with international law and the Charter of the United Nations, Cairo refuses to resort to international arbitration, and claims sovereignty over the region.