Sudan\u2019s president Omar al-Bashir said he will remain patient with Egypt even though \u201cit has illegally occupied a disputed region near the Red Sea,\u201d in an interview with Al-Jazeera channel on Monday.<\/p>\n
Bashir said\u00a0he has been silent in the face of the occupation of the Halayeb triangle to honor the longstanding relationship with Egypt.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have done nothing or said anything wrong towards Egypt in spite the attack on our land and Egypt occupying parts of our territory,\u201d Bashir said.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, the Sudanese president said:\u00a0\u201cThe Halayeb-Shalateen Triangle is a Sudanese area, but we are not going to war for it \u2013 it will be reclaimed through negotiations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before\u00a0assuming the Egyptian presidency, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said: \u201cThe Halayeb-Shalateen Triangle is part of Egypt\u2019s territory. We urge Sudan not to start a conflict with Egypt.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both Egypt and Sudan have a long-standing history; the countries were once a unified state in the mid-20th\u00a0century. Many believe the way forward is to reinstate the 1982 Nile Valley parliament, a body of politicians from both countries, which helped improve diplomatic relations.<\/p>\n
The parliament\u2019s work, which came to a halt in 1985, had agreed on equal treatment for citizens, freedom of movement, residency, acquisitions, labor and trade exchange, as well as a joint unified policy at the level of international relations and diplomatic representation.<\/p>\n
Bashir had also previously accused the Egyptian media of attempting to aggravate tensions between Cairo and Khartoum, which have been on edge in recent months after Bashir claimed that Egypt is supporting Sudanese opposition figures fighting his troops.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we have been patient with them because we know that we have very important historic ties. Egypt has been targeted and we are also targeted\u2026 so a rift between us would only serve the interests of the enemies of the Arab nation,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The Egyptian media claimed that Khartoum is offering refuge to members of the Muslim Brotherhood movement, which was declared a terrorist group by Egypt following the ouster of Islamist president Mohammad Morsi in 2013.<\/p>\n
Both countries have attempted to cool the rising hostility, with Egyptian Foreign Minister Shoukry visiting Khartoum on April 20 for talks with his counterpart Ibrahim Ghandour.<\/p>\n
Egypt and Sudan agreed during the talks that neither side would harbor or support opposition groups fighting their respective governments.<\/p>\n
But Sudan then introduced entry visas for\u00a0Egyptian travelers on April 7, just as Egypt put similar\u00a0impositions on Sudanese travelers.<\/p>\n
Sudan\u2019s decision to place a restriction on Egyptian men aged 18 to 50 is aimed at preventing \u201cterrorists\u201d from infiltrating the country, it said.<\/p>\n
The restriction\u00a0does not apply to Egyptian women.<\/p>\n
In 2004, Egypt and Sudan signed the Four Freedoms Agreement, allowing citizens to move freely between both countries and live, work and own property without a permit.<\/p>\n
(Egypt Independent)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sudan\u2019s president Omar al-Bashir said he will remain patient with Egypt even though \u201cit has illegally occupied a disputed region near the Red Sea,\u201d in an interview with Al-Jazeera channel on Monday. Bashir said\u00a0he has been silent in the face of the occupation of the Halayeb triangle to honor the longstanding relationship with Egypt. \u201cWe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":9890,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7863],"tags":[8220,8221,8219],"class_list":["post-9889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english-section","tag-despite","tag-egyptian-occupation","tag-omar-al-bashir"],"yoast_head":"\n