The Sudanese Foreign Ministry said today that it summoned the Egyptian ambassador to Khartoum Hossam Issa on the backdrop of the announcement by the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources «open an international tender for exploration and exploitation of oil and gas in areas of the Red Sea subject to Sudanese sovereignty».
The ministry said Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs Badr al-Din Abdullah expressed to the Egyptian ambassador Sudan's protest against the declaration, calling for "not to proceed in this direction, which contradicts the legal status of the Halaib triangle and does not correspond to the broad steps taken by the two brotherly countries to find a strategic partnership between them."
The ministry stressed that this declaration "does not arrange, in accordance with international law, any rights to Egypt triangular Halaib," warning companies engaged in the exploration and exploration for oil and gas «to make any bids in the region mentioned».
The Sudanese government called on the governments of the relevant countries "to take the necessary measures to prevent their companies from taking any illegal steps."
Sudan renewed the invitation to Egypt "to use peaceful means to resolve this border dispute and prevent it from affecting the relationship between the two countries."