Cairo and Juba have intensified their efforts to stabilize the ceasefire in Sudan, following weeks of ongoing fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
On Tuesday, President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and South Sudan's President Salva Kirr exchanged messages carried by envoys from both sides.
While Sisi met with South Sudan's Presidential Advisor on Security Affairs Tut Gatluak, his counterpart in South Sudan was holding talks with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.
“Sisi met with Gatluak in the presence of the Director of the Egyptian General Intelligence Service, Major General Abbas Kamel,” the Egyptian presidential spokesman, Ahmed Fahmy, said.
He noted that Gatluak gave the President a letter from Salva Kiir on ways to strengthen the distinguished bilateral relations between the two fraternal countries.
During the meeting the grave challenges facing Sudan at the humanitarian, security and political levels were tackled, and the efforts to resolve the crisis in order to safeguard the Sudanese people were tackled.
Also they discussed the importance of encouraging Sudanese parties to maintain the truce and move towards a comprehensive and lasting ceasefire to allow for the delivery of humanitarian assistance and relief and a constructive dialogue to resolve differences and settle the crisis, thus completing the transitional path and political process in a way that preserves the unity and cohesion of the State, fulfills the aspirations of the Sudanese people and safeguards their supreme interests.
In a related development, Shoukry met with South Sudan's President Salva Kirr in Juba, as part of the FM’s visits to Chad and South Sudan to discuss the latest developments of the Sudanese crisis and its regional and international impacts.
The Minister delivered a message from Sisi that dealt with the latest developments in war-ridden Sudan and the important role of its neighboring countries in helping to resolve the current crisis and enabling the warring parties to reach a permanent ceasefire to save the lives of the Sudanese people and preserve the country's stability and territorial integrity.
Ambassador Ahmed Abu Zeid, the Foreign Ministry’s official spokesperson said Shoukry reviewed the efforts and contacts that Egypt has made since the beginning of the crisis, especially at the political level by working with the conflicting parties and the influential forces regionally and internationally to realize a ceasefire and settle differences through dialogue.
He also explained that Egypt had received over 60,000 refugees fleeing the conflict in Sudan, highlighting the immense human suffering inflicted on the Sudanese due to this conflict.
The foreign minister stressed during his meeting with Kirr the necessity of coordination among Sudan’s neighboring countries which are directly affected by the continuation of the Sudanese conflict.