An aerial view of Halayeb Triangle on Egypt-Sudan borders (Google Earth)

A Sudanese top diplomat told the lawmakers that his government supported the claim with an additional complaint regarding the measures taken by Cairo government to (Egyptianize) the area.

The Halayeb triangle, which is a 20,580 km area on the Red Sea, has been a contentious issue between Egypt and Sudan since 1958, shortly after Sudan gained its independence from the British-Egyptian rule in January1956.

The area has been under Cairo’s full military control since the mid-1990’s following a Sudanese-backed attempt to kill the former Egyptian President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak.

During a debate of Sudan’s foreign policy at the Council of States, the upper chamber, a Sudanese lawmaker and a former member of the military junta that brought president al-Bashir to power in June 1989 Salah Karar criticized the government’s stance on the dispute over Halayeb triangle.

Karar lashed out at the government for its silence about the issue, saying that it had been dropped from the agenda of bilateral meetings during a recent visit to Egypt by President Omer al-Bashir.

"Halayeb is Sudanese and will remain Sudanese," said the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Mohamed Obaidullah in response to Karar. He further said that that Khartoum will resort to the international arbitration if negotiations with the Egyptian side fail.

The Sudanese state minister stressed the ministry’s keenness to raise the issue of Halayeb in all the meetings with the Egyptian side to preserve the interests of Sudan. He added the issue was discussed during the meetings of the joint technical committee between the two countries.

Last April, Cairo refused a demand by the Sudanese government to hold direct talks on Halayeb and Shalateen or to accept the referral of the dispute to the International Court of Arbitration.

Egypt has used to reject Sudan’s repeated calls for referring the dispute to international arbitration.

The international law provides that the agreement of the two parties is needed to arbitrate a dispute by the tribunal.

Also, the Egyptian authorities have imposed restrictions on the entry of Sudanese nationals into the area.

The minister said the foreign ministry is keen defend Sudan’s integrity, pointing to the border disputed areas with Egypt, Ethiopia and South Sudan.

He added that the Sudanese and Ethiopian sides solved all their difference, adding that his government does not want to raise engage border demarcation process because of the recent violent troubles in the neighbouring country.