Egypt-Sudan crisis ‘runs deep’

The current crisis between Sudan and Egypt runs much deeper than anger over the recent killing and mistreatment of Sudanese nationals in Egypt, says Yasir Arman, Secretary-General of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N).

“Khartoum is part of an axis based in Libya to empower political Islamist groups in order to topple the regime in Egypt,” Arman told Radio Dabanga in an interview on Friday.

He did not elaborate but urged the leaders of the two nations “not to sabotage their relations for the benefit of a political agenda”.

Libya

In recent years, Libyan authorities have repeatedly accused Sudan of supporting the Islamist insurgents, by smuggling weapons and militant extremists into the country.

On 21 July, the London-based Al Sharq Al Awsat newspaper quoted Eisa Abdelmajid, advisor to the chairman of the Libyan parliament, who said that an average of 50 vehicles carrying extremist Muslim fighters and arms were daily crossing the Sudanese-Egyptian border near El Kufra. Fighters and weapons are also airlifted from Khartoum to Mitiga airport in Tripoli, he said.

Last year, Gen. Khalifa Haftar, the leader of Operation Dignity fighting Islamist militias in Libya called Sudan’s position on fighting terrorism in Libya “ambiguous”. In September 2014, Libyan border guards intercepted a convoy of vehicles carrying Yemeni fighters into the country via the area of El Kufra on the Sudan-Libya border. Earlier that month, the authorities of El Kufra airport grounded a Sudanese military aircraft bound for Tripoli, that was reportedly laden with weapons.

Sudanese killed, tortured, harassed in Egypt

The relations between Sudan and Egypt deteriorated recently, however, because of a number of incidents against Sudanese citizens in Egypt this month. On 23 November, Egyptian border guards shot and killed five Sudanese who were attempting to cross into Israel. Eight days before, 16 Sudanese nationals were killed at the Egyptian-Israeli border in a similar incident.

Earlier this month, Sudanese refugees staged a sit-in in front of the office of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in the Egyptian capital of Cairo. It was the latest action in a series of protests against the deterioration of the security situation in the districts the refugees are living in. They demanded humanitarian aid as well as relocation to “a safer place to escape from repeated racist assaults by Egyptians”.

In addition, Sudanese citizens residing and visiting Egypt also complain about being harassed by the Egyptian authorities because of their possession of Dollars. Egypt reacted by stating that all foreigners are checked on the possession of hard currency, in an attempt to close down the currency black market.

Yet, the reported torture of Yahya Zakaria, a Sudanese who travelled on 6 November to Cairo for medical treatment of his son, does not fit this description. Upon his arrival, Zakaria left his son at a hotel and went to a foreign exchange office in downtown Cairo to exchange $500 intended to cover the costs of his son’s surgery.   

He was held by armed men in civilian clothes and taken to the Abdin Police Station, Zakaria told El Sudani newspaper. “I told them that I had $500 and 4,000 Egyptian Pounds for the treatment of my son,” he said. “The prosecutor ordered my release and the return of my money. But then they took us to the National Security Apparatus where there were other Sudanese nationals detained. [..] “When I started shouting that I wanted to see my son, they beat me and stubbed cigarettes in my body.”

After spending almost a week in detention, Zakaria was deported to Khartoum.

The Sudanese Embassy in Cairo sent a memorandum to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry on 18 November, protesting the abuses against its citizens in Cairo and calling for an investigation into their detention on charges of trafficking in currency and counterfeiting dollars.

Addressing the national parliament last Monday, Sudanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Ibrahim Ghandour accused the Egyptian authorities of violating the rights of Sudanese nationals in Egypt.

Halayeb

He further announced that the Ministry filed a complaint with the UN Security Council against Egypt for holding its parliamentary election in Halayeb, a disputed area on the Egypt-Sudan border.

Both countries claim sovereignty over the area following Sudanese independence in 1956. The dispute is a result of the discrepancy in the demarcation of a “political boundary” set in 1899 by the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium and an “administrative boundary” set by Britain in 1902.