Egypt's relations with Sudan question of life or death

Sudanese Foreign Minister stressed that Egypt's relations with Sudan is a question of life or death, reiterating that Sudan would not allow any relapse in these relations.

These remarks were released during Ismail's meeting with members of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs under chairmanship of Ambassador Mohammed Ibrahim Shaker.

Ismail said the political leadership is "very conscious" and does not leave any other causes to affect these relations, underlining the importance of the Egyptian role in consolidating relations between the Sudanese parties.

He also described as "very important" Egypt’s continuing relations with Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLM).

"Egypt was not far from the Machakos negotiations and the Sudanese government was keen on the direct Egyptian participation in every step," he added.

"Egypt has its own strategies as it saw that its non-participation in the negotiation would strength to Sudan better than its intervention," he said.

The minister acknowledged that there is a highly complicated problem in the Sudanese south and that the North-South war led to the failure of all initiatives to settle the crisis, a matter that rendered citizens in south Sudan underdeveloped and second-class ones.

As regards the Machakos agreement, the Sudanese top diplomat said his government has signed the protocol with SPLM although it was not the best of options.

He said the Machakos protocol has put Sudan's territorial integrity to the test, expressing fears over the hazards of separation, now that the tribal system in south Sudan could start genocide operations similar to what happened in Rawanda.

If separation happened and Sudan was divided, this could lead to the division of Ethiopia whose constitutions stipulate that ethnicities have the right to self-determination and a chaos could prevail in the whole region. He accused SPLM of rejecting the cease-fire and that SPLM leader john Garang has plans to seize lands and control other territories that are not belonging to the southern areas' borders recognized in January 1956.