Sudan’s President al-Bashir accuses Egypt of supporting Sudanese opposition

Monday 06-02-2017 01:08 PM

Sudan’s President Omar Al Bashir speaks during a joint news conference with Belarussian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko at the presidential palace at Khartoum, Sudan January 17, 2017. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah

CAIRO, Feb 6 (Aswat Masriya) – Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir accused Egypt of supporting Sudanese opposition, while threatening to resort to the UN Security Council if Egypt refused to negotiate over the Halayeb triangle. 

During an interview with al-Arabiya satellite channel, Bashir said that Sudanese opposition figures were backed by Egyptian intelligence services, revealing that his country has repeatedly asked Cairo to stop supporting opposition.

He added that his problem isn't with Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi but rather with Egyptian intelligence. 

"Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is a good man and he is my friend, but it's the Egyptian intelligence that I am accusing," Bashir said during the interview, which was aired on Sunday.

"I'm not accusing President Sisi. I'm accusing the regime,” he added.

Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes, also denied hosting leaders of the banned Muslim Brotherhood, saying that harbouring them is against Khartoum’s policy.

"Our policy is not to disturb the peace and security of any country and not to intervene in any internal issues of any country," he said.

The Sudanese president also insisted that Halayeb triangle is a Sudanese territory and threatened to lodge a complaint with the UN if Egypt refused to start negotiations over the border towns of Halayeb and Shalateen.

"The Halayeb triangle is Sudanese and we will not make any concessions," he said. 

The Halayeb triangle, which lies at the border between Egypt and Sudan and is considered Egypt’s southern gate to the Red Sea, has long been contested between both countries.

In April 2016, Sudan formally called for holding negotiations between Egypt and Sudan over the Halayeb triangle, or referring the dispute to the International Court of Arbitration.

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