Crises-laden, Egypt andSudan play the game of exterior enemy؟ by Adaroub sedna onour

04:46 PM January, 13 2018

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Adaroub Sedna Onour-
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In the era of open skies, the troubled regimes of the two neighboring countries of Egypt and Sudan, still insist to play by the –out-of-date rules of the past, when their masses were off-the-radar. Although, in today’s global interconnectedness, no crises are 100% internal affairs. While, In the pre-digital past, nations enjoyed the luxury of being isolated islands, with free hand to settle their home disputes. The outside world seldom took notice of internal issues such like, irritations fueled by prices rise, strikes and other means of expressing discontent, which previously required years to gather momentum and draw global attention or concern . But, nowadays, governments think twice before contemplating crushing any anti-regime protest, to avoid being subjected to sanctions that bite hard. Even, the interrogation or detention of a single phony activist has a price today. Historically, Egypt considered Sudan as its backyard, and assumed that Sudanese policies should be tailored to those of Egypt, and that Sudan should-unquestioningly- support all its designs in the region and the world as well؟ While, Sudan eyed Egypt with much uneasiness and distrust, for its being a previous co-colonizer during the two colonial periods (by the Turkish and later the British Empire,) during both of which Egypt played spear- head and Trojan -horse. Thus, almost all Sudanese regimes since independence (1956) longed to distance them selves from Egypt and pursue independent policies seeking the national interests of their sovereign country, a trend which Egypt always hampered much as it could. The now ruling Muslim brotherhood movement of Sudan figured that the moment was ripe to take the initiative and turn the tide. So, it launched a failed, yet, daring Assassination attempt to liquidate the ex-president of Egypt, husni Mubarak, while on visit to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in the mid-1990s. The targeted head-of-state missed death by miracle, thanks to the Ethiopian security...and the armored presidential car. Egypt retaliated by occupying the Sudanese triangle of halaib, situated to the remotest north-eastern borders of Sudan with Egypt. Understandably, and as expected, The Sudanese regime flatly denied any involvement in the plot, and adamantly refused to extradite those implicated in it. Egypt insisted that Sudan’s refusal to hand over those accused of an extraditable crime was an act of hostility punishable by all national and international laws. Whereas, the Sudanese regime considered the failed assassination attempt not an extrinsic issue؟؟ While , Egypt , not only refuses to forgive or forget the plot, but never failed to produce more irrefutable evidences , to blend the Sudanese regime with terror –sponsoring and ,as the same moment, back its allegations brought against it . In my view, the out break of any conflict won’t be in favor or in the best interest of Sudan, now that its two closest neighbors (Egypt and Eritrea) have decided to join forces against it. while the regime’s allies are turkey andQatar, which are remote, unreliable and staunch allies if ,god forbid, the unthinkable took place ,in comparison with Egypt and Eritrea ,which have weighty ethnical and political presence in Sudan and long-stretching unguarded borders inhabited by tribes which have extensions in all the three countries .plus the construction of the renaissance dam by Ethiopia is, and will continue to be , the magnet drawing Egypt to Eritrea ,making Ethiopia their common-enemy. Hence, the Sudanese regime should stop fanning the flames and beating the drums of a war , if triggered, will be fought on the Sudanese soil ,and would most probably , isolate eastern Sudan from the rest of the country. That said, the Sudanese regime should develop a realistic approach to mediate between Egypt and Eritrea on the one side and Ethiopia on the other side, to defuse the heating dispute and try to reach a decent and dignified solution ,taking into account Egypt’s perceivable worries ,when it comes to its dire need for water. Egypt, on its part, should firstly, withdraw from the halaib triangle promptly without procrastination. Secondly, it should, for its own good, change its old image of Sudan as being a blind ,obedient follower or a hod- carrier , and deal with Sudan as an independent , sovereign country, seeking its own interests, which are not, necessarily , consistent with or inseparably linked to those of Egypt. Oddly enough, all the four unpopular regimes (Sudan, Egypt, Ethiopia and Eritrea) are now capitalizing on the god-sent conflict, taking advantage of its being a much-needed unifying - factor.

Adaroub sedna onour .

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