CAIRO — There are fears that the dispute over Halayeb and Shalateen, a small border region claimed by Cairo and Khartoum, will cast its shadow over Egyptian-Sudanese coordination on the negotiations over the Renaissance Dam between the two countries and Ethiopia.

On April 18, state-owned channel Ethiopian TV interviewed Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who said that the dam benefits both Sudan and Ethiopia. Egyptian media considered this declaration as clearly reflecting the escalating crisis on the Halayeb triangle between Cairo and Khartoum. Bashir's remarks came a few hours after Sudan demanded, in an official Foreign Ministry statement April 17, direct negotiations with Egypt to resolve the crisis in a way similar to how it dealt with Saudi Arabia in regard to the islands of Tiran and Sanafir or via international arbitration. But Cairo rejected the demand, stressing that the triangle is Egyptian territory and that it will not negotiate or resort to international arbitration on the matter.

The Halayeb area is located on the African side of the Red Sea. The area contains three major towns: Halayeb, Abu Ramad and Shalateen. The area belongs to Egypt politically and administratively but is subject to a border dispute between Egypt and Sudan.

A government source in the Egyptian Committee on the Renaissance Dam told Al-Monitor that Egypt fears that the Halayeb and Shalateen crisis with Sudan would escalate to a new stumbling block in the Renaissance Dam negotiations between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia. Cairo had put in place a number of alternative scenarios to resolve the crisis of the hampered technical track, and Egypt counts on Khartoum’s support for the Egyptian position toward Addis Ababa.