CAIRO — The maritime border demarcation agreement under which Egypt ceded the Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir to Saudi Arabia has brought back to the surface the dispute between Egypt and Sudan over the Halayeb and Shalateen triangle. While Khartoum insists on international arbitration or peaceful negotiations to decide the fate of this disputed region along Egypt’s southern border, Cairo refuses to discuss the issue.

On April 17, the Sudanese Foreign Ministry issued a press release in which it called for direct negotiations with Egypt in a bid to resolve the dispute over the region, similarly to what happened with Saudi Arabia, or for international arbitration, as provided for in international law, similarly to how Egypt regained the town of Taba from Israel in 1989.

The press release, which followed numerous unsuccessful diplomatic attempts aimed at starting negotiations with Cairo, emphasized that the agreement between Egypt and Saudi Arabia regarding the maritime border also affects Sudan given its connection with the two regions of Halayeb and Shalateen and the surrounding shores. “The Sudanese Foreign Ministry is closely following up on this agreement and its consequences to make sure it does not prejudice the sovereign, historical and legal rights of Sudan in Halayeb,” read the statement.

In response to the Sudanese request, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry issued an extremely brief statement April 18 saying, “Halayeb and Shalateen are Egyptian territories subject to Egyptian sovereignty, and Egypt does not have additional comment on the Sudanese Foreign Ministry’s statement.”