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January 26, 2021
CAIRO – A delegation from the Sudan Sovereignty Council, led by Lieutenant General Shamseldin al-Kabashi and the Director of the General Intelligence Service, Jamal Abdul Majeed, visited Cairo on January 14, where they met with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to discuss the latest developments on the border conflict with Ethiopia and the military operations led by the Sudanese army to liberate the territories from the Ethiopian armed militias.
The visit came as part of Sudan’s regional moves that are expected to include other visits to Arab countries, namely the Gulf, such as Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, to request “diplomatic and legal support,” according to a statement from the January 14, Sudan’s Foreign Minister Omar Qamar al-Din.
However, on 25 January, tensions escalated on the Sudan-Ethiopia border when violent clashes with heavy weapons and artillery broke out in the Jabal Abu al-Toyour border area.
In December 2020, the Sudanese army deployed its soldiers to the border in the al-Fashqa region to free Sudanese land from groups affiliated with Ethiopian militias that have benefited from cultivating hundreds of acres of fertile land since 1995.
A diplomatic source familiar with Egypt-Sudan relations told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity: “Egypt has been carefully watching the tension on the Sudanese borders since the beginning of the skirmishes because it is concerned about protecting peace and security. in the African region “. especially in neighboring countries ”.
He said: “Cairo has not taken any recent steps to support either party to the conflict, but Egypt appreciates Sudan’s request for support and assistance in its legal position to recover and liberate its lands.”
The source noted that “Egypt adopts policies that support peaceful solutions through dialogue and negotiation to restore peace and resolve all outstanding problems.”
He explained: “Restoring calm between Khartoum and Addis Ababa would be in Cairo’s interest, unlike what Ethiopia has been promoting in the media by launching accusations against Egypt.”
Cairo has not made official comments on the border conflict between Khartoum and Addis Ababa since the beginning of the crisis, except in a strong statement by Egypt’s Foreign Ministry on December 31, 2020, in response to statements by the Foreign Ministry. Foreign Ethiopia. spokesperson Dina Mufti. The latter has referred to the internal affairs of Egypt when criticizing the human rights situation in Egypt. Cairo considered the statement a “flagrant transgression”, accusing Ethiopia of pursuing “continuous hostile practices against its regional environment”, referring to Ethiopia’s attacks on Sudanese territory.
Egypt and Sudan are committed to the Joint Defense and Economic Cooperation Treaty, under the umbrella of the Arab League, which stipulates in Article 2, “The Contracting States consider any [act of] armed aggression against one or more of them or their armed forces, directed against all of them. Therefore, in accordance with the right of legitimate defense, individually and collectively, they undertake to come without delay to the aid of the State or States against which such aggression is carried out, and to take immediately, individually and collectively, all available measures, including the use of armed force to repel aggression and restore security and peace. ”
Major General Khaled Okasha, security expert and director of the Egyptian Center for Strategic Studies, told Al-Monitor: “Egypt is well aware of the sensitivity of the tripartite relationship between him and Sudan and Ethiopia, and interfering in this conflict will worsen the situation without solving it ”.
He noted that “Sudan can regain its lands through all legal, diplomatic and military means, and does not need support from Egypt. Egypt realizes that these are all recurring conflicts and are not of a level that threatens Egyptian national security. “
However, Okasha added: “The growing tension between Sudan and Ethiopia over land in the al-Fashqa region revealed the true positions of Ethiopia, which has long claimed to be a sister country to Sudan protecting its interests in the Greater Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. [GERD] problem.”
In an unprecedented military cooperation between Egypt and Sudan, units of the Egyptian air force and the Saiqa (Thunderbolt) commando forces conducted joint air exercises with Sudan, dubbed Nile Eagles-1, on November 19, 2020. The maneuvers included a series of offensives and defensive sorties on targets, while Saiqa forces conducted combat search and rescue exercises.
Okasha emphasized: “The Egyptian military maneuvers with Sudan are not an exceptional situation, but rather a restoration of normal relations between the two countries, which had been tense during the period of Islamic rule in Sudan.”
In a January 25 interview with the Al-Arabiya channel, Sudan’s Defense Minister, Lieutenant General Yassin Ibrahim Yassin, linked the border dispute with Ethiopia to the GERD negotiations, noting that “the common factor in both cases is the backwardness of Ethiopia. “
Speaking about the possibilities of Egyptian intervention to mediate between Sudan and Ethiopia to resolve the border crisis, Mona Omar, former aide to Egypt’s foreign minister, told Al-Monitor: “I rule out that possibility, especially with the intransigent positions of Ethiopia with Egypt in the GERD negotiations and their lack of respect for the historical letters and agreements that define the mechanisms to deal with the water of the Nile ”.
He said: “At present Egypt can offer its support to Sudan by raising [border] topic in international forums and providing legal support ”.
Omar noted: “Egypt’s policy is not about working in secret or fueling the conflict between two countries, especially since Cairo is well aware that if the tension between Sudan and Ethiopia is no longer limited to mere confrontations, it would have negative effects and safety implications. in the region.”
He added: “Despite internal calls to resort to a military solution against Ethiopia on the GERD problem, which is a matter of life and death for Egypt, the Egyptian administration committed itself to dialogue and peaceful negotiation as a way to solve the crisis. “
Since the outbreak of clashes with Ethiopia on Sudan’s eastern border, Khartoum has taken tougher positions on the GERD issue, completely rejecting Ethiopian positions during rounds of negotiations sponsored by the African Union (AU).
Sudanese government spokesman and Information Minister Faisal Saleh said in a press release on January 23: “Sudan will not accept the imposition of a fait accompli in the GERD. [issue]and we have the means to respond to Ethiopia. UA mediation [in the GERD issue] in its old form it is no longer useful. “
Egypt’s moves to support Sudan in its border conflict with Ethiopia are part of a new era of cooperation and coordination between Cairo and Khartoum to stop any threat that affects the common interests and national security of the two countries, especially in the Nile water file.
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