Egypt’s General Intelligence Service Director delivers verbal message from Sisi to Sudan’s Burhan

CAIRO – 28 July 2020: Director of Egypt’s General Intelligence Service (GIS) Abbas Kamel delivered a verbal message from President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to Head of Sudan's sovereign council Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan during his visit in Khartoum.

The message was on the two countries relations and ways to support and improve ties at various levels, according to a Tuesday statement.

The intelligence chief also had separate meetings with the vice president of Sudan’s sovereign council, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and the Sudanese minister of defense where they reviewed means to bolster cooperation ties and matters of mutual interest.

On Monday, The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam negotiations resumed, as part of the African Union-sponsored talks, with the participation of Water and irrigation Minsters of the countries of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia.

Egypt’s Water Ministry said in a statement that both of Egypt and Sudan expressed their concern regarding the unilateral filling, which Ethiopia has done. This move according to the statement ‘raised questions regarding the current course of negotiations and reaching a fair agreement’.

Sudan Minster of Irrigation Yasser Abbas called on setting a clear and specific agenda for each negotiation period, which was agreed to take two weeks, in addition to the need to prepare clear protocols for the exchange of information and reports between all parties.

Abbas stressed the need to give the experts a larger role during the next round of talks and to continue based on what was reached and achieved. He noted to the need to focus on the points of contention between the three countries.

Sudan also called for one-week delay in the negotiations to conduct further consultations between all three countries, which was collectively agreed.

The next round of negotiations was set to be on Monday, August 3.