Egypt speaker announces new provincial division for Halayeb triangle

Egypt’s Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel Aal has said Cairo intends to establish a new provincial division that will include the disputed Halayeb region, the Egyptian state news agency MENA reported.

Abdel Aal said during a parliamentary session on Monday that the Halayeb triangle will be part of the Aswan province according to the new administrative division.

He explained that the current longitudinal division has led to many problems but the new division for the province will connect Upper Egypt governorates to the Red Sea.

Sudan claims it has sovereignty rights over the Halayeb triangle.

The Sudanese foreign ministry has called on Egypt to negotiate directly over the Halayeb triangle, saying that it will seek international arbitration to resolve the dispute if Cairo refuses talks.