Sudan, Egypt contest their maritime borders

The rift between Sudan and Egypt is growing with the neighbouring countries continuing their disagreements over their maritime borders.

In March, Sudan filed an official memorandum of objection for the first time containing baselines for its northern border, which included the Triangle within the Sudanese borders.

The Sudan Tribune newspaper quoted the Head of the Sudanese Bar Association, Osman Mohammed Al-Sharif, saying:

Through the declaration that the Sudanese foreign ministry sent to the UN in March by way of presidential decree, Khartoum wanted to take a third course after Cairo refused the two solutions of direct negotiation and international arbitration.

“The 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea, which was signed by Sudan and Egypt, obliges them to appear before the court for maritime border disputes”.

An Egyptian diplomat said that during negotiations with Saudi Arabia over demarcation of the maritime borders, Egypt had insisted that the demarcation be carried out from the south to the north to ensure that Latitude 22 would be within Egyptian borders, despite being aware that there are legal agreements between Khartoum and Riyadh that include Saudi’s recognition that the Triangle of Halayeb is a Sudanese area.

The source, who declined to be named, claimed that Cairo knew that if Sudan resorted to international arbitration, Saudi Arabia would be forced to comply with its bilateral agreements with Sudan.