CAIRO: The Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation announced on Dec. that Egypt intends to construct a dam to collect rain and flood water in the basin valleys of Shalatin in the Halaib triangle on the Red Sea coast, raising concerns that it could spark a diplomatic row with Sudan.
Sameh Sakr, head of the ministry’s groundwater and irrigation department told Egypt’s official MENA news agency that the dam will have a capacity of 7 million cubic meters and, at 12 meters high, will be the biggest in the Eastern Desert of Egypt. Sakr also claimed the dam would assist greatly in developing the region and protecting it from flooding.
Cairo has allocated 378 million Egyptian pounds ($18 million) to construct 11 dams and seven lakes to help protect development areas in the Red Sea province from winter floods, which have historically caused significant damage and a number of deaths.
On Friday, however, Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour reasserted his country’s claim over the Halaib region.
In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, Ghandour issued “an invitation to Egypt to negotiate the sovereignty over (this) land, or resort to international arbitration.”
He added: “We hope that our Egyptian brothers will negotiate, as they did with our Saudi brothers over the matter of Tiran and Sanafir, or resort to international arbitration as they did with Israel over the matter of Taba. Either choice will prevent any issue in our brotherly relations.”
Ghandour said: “We will not let Halaib damage Sudanese-Egyptian relations. However, we will never hand over Halaib.”
According to the 1899 Sudan Agreement signed by the British and Egyptian governments, the latitude 22° territorial boundary separates the two countries, which meant the Halaib triangle was in Egyptian territory.
Sudan, though, recognizes the administrative boundary drawn up in 1902, which assigned around 18,000 square km to Sudan, including the towns of Halaib and Abu Ramad.
When Sudan gained independence in 1956, both sides claimed sovereignty over the Halaib triangle. Since the mid-90s, Egypt administered the area as part of the Red Sea Governorate.
In July this year, Sudan filed a notice with the UN, claiming that Egypt is occupying the triangle, and refusing to claim any rights for a third party. That same month, Cairo announced it would start oil and gas exploration in the Red Sea Governorate, including the Halaib triangle.
Tensions between Sudan and Egypt have escalated lately, due to several issues, including contention over their border, and Sudan’s support for Ethiopia in negotiations over the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which Cairo fears Ethiopia will manage in a way that reduces Egypt’s historical water share from the Blue Nile.
Amid these tensions, the Egyptian authorities have released around 300 illegal Sudanese immigrants, who were jailed in Shalatin six months ago, according to the Sudanese newspaper Al-Youm Al-Tali.
Egypt’s dam plan in Halaib upsets Sudan
Egypt’s dam plan in Halaib upsets Sudan
Arab, Muslim countries slam US ambassador’s remarks on Israel’s right to Middle East land
- The backlash widened sharply on Sunday as more than a dozen Arab and Islamic governments issued a joint statement denouncing the US diplomat’s comments as “dangerous and inflammatory”
JERUSALEM: Arab and Islamic countries issued a joint condemnation on Sunday of remarks by US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who suggested Israel had a biblical right to a vast swath of the Middle East.
Huckabee, a former Baptist minister and a fervent Israel supporter, was speaking on the podcast of far-right commentator and Israel critic Tucker Carlson.
In an episode released Friday, Carlson pushed Huckabee on the meaning of a biblical verse sometimes interpreted as saying that Israel is entitled to the land between the river Nile in Egypt and the Euphrates in Syria and Iraq.
In response, Huckabee said: “It would be fine if they took it all.”
When pressed, however, he continued that Israel was “not asking to take all of that,” adding: “It was somewhat of a hyperbolic statement.”
The backlash widened sharply on Sunday as more than a dozen Arab and Islamic governments — alongside three major regional organizations — issued a joint statement denouncing the US diplomat’s comments as “dangerous and inflammatory.”
The statement, released by the United Arab Emirates’ foreign ministry, was signed by the UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria and the State of Palestine, as well as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council.
They said the comments contravene the UN Charter and efforts to de-escalate the Gaza war and advance a political horizon for a comprehensive settlement.
Iran joined the chorus with its foreign ministry accusing Huckabee on X of revealing “American active complicity” in what it called Israel’s “expansionist wars of aggression” against Palestinians.
Earlier, several Arab states had issued unilateral condemnations.
Saudi Arabia described the ambassador’s words as “reckless” and “irresponsible,” while Jordan said it was “an assault on the sovereignty of the countries of the region.”
Kuwait decried what it called a “flagrant violation of the principles of international law,” while Oman said the comments “threatened the prospects for peace” and stability in the region.
Egypt’s foreign ministry reaffirmed “that Israel has no sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territory or any other Arab lands.”
The Palestinian Authority said on X that Huckabee’s words “contradict US President Donald Trump’s rejection of (Israel) annexing the West Bank.”
On Saturday, Huckabee published two posts on X further clarifying his position on other topics touched upon in the interview, but did not address his remark about the biblical verse.
The speaker of the Israeli parliament, Amir Ohana, praised Huckabee on X for his general pro-Israel stance in the interview, and accused Carlson of “falsehoods and manipulations.”
Carlson has recently found himself facing accusations of antisemitism, particularly following a lengthy, uncritical interview with self-described white nationalist Nick Fuentes — a figure who has praised Hitler, denied the Holocaust and branded American Jews as disloyal.
