Less than a week after his appointment as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Ali Yousef met with his Egyptian counterpart. Egypt will host a second forum for Sudanese political and civil society groups after the one that took place in July.

Following Yousef’s appointment on Monday, observers pointed to the veteran diplomat’s close ties with Egypt and China. That day, he received a phone call from Egyptian FA Minister Badr Abdel Aaty, congratulating him with his new position.

In a press conference following the meeting with Yousef in the Egyptian capital on Wednesday, Abdel Aaty stated that “Egypt fully supports the Sudanese state institutions and works to support them, as state institutions are the stronghold of a country’s unity and stability”.

The Egyptian FA minister said that President Abdel Fattah El Sisi issued directives to further develop relations between the two countries, especially since “Sudanese national security is part of Egyptian national security, and Egyptian security is an integral part of Sudanese national security”.

The war in Sudan “has repercussions and impacts on Egypt, which is a natural thing in light of the fraternal relations, as the Egyptian and Sudanese people are one people in the Nile Valley”.

Another civil society forum

Abdel Aaty further announced that his country will host a “second comprehensive forum for all Sudanese political and civil society groups”, a follow-up of the Sudanese Parties Conference convened in Cairo in July.

The previous forum led to “an agreement on an important document that we hope will be Sudan’s roadmap out of the crisis,” he stated.

The senior Egyptian official identified three axes on which the roadmap is based: a ceasefire, a halt to the supply of weapons from abroad to protect the Sudanese people and ensure the rapid arrival of humanitarian aid, and full inclusivity of the political and civil society meetings.

Egypt “is working with all its efforts and sincerity to stop the bloodshed of the Sudanese and hopes that the Sudanese people will emerge stronger and more resilient from the current crisis”, Abdel Aaty said.

The newly appointed Sudanese FA minister reported at the press conference that he and his Egyptian counterpart drew a roadmap for cooperation between the two countries. “We are one people in two countries,” he stated.

“Sudan is going through a critical phase. Egypt’s position is clear, strong, and supportive of the Sudanese state institutions and army.” He added that the large numbers of Sudanese who sought refuge in Egypt, were welcomed by the Egyptian people.

‘A logical start, but ..’

Radio Dabanga asked a retired ambassador at the Sudanese FA Ministry for his comments on the first moves of Yousef after assuming his post.

The retired official, who requested anonymity, considers it “logical for the Sudanese foreign minister to begin with meetings in Cairo, given that Egypt was the main supporter of the military after the 2018 December Revolution, continued to support them after the October 2021 coup d’état, and fully supported the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) after the outbreak of the war with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on April 15, 2023.

“The statements of the Egyptian minister at the press conference about his country’s full support for state institutions, confirms this,” he explained.

“Moreover, the recent accusations made by the RSF Commander Mohamed ‘Hemedti’ Dagalo about Egypt intervening militarily in the Sudanese war and providing support to the Sudanese Air Force, prompted the Egyptian leadership to abandon its reservations and to describe the RSF in its official statements as a militia.”

The diplomat added that “one should also not forget that since the outbreak of the war, Egypt has become a major outlet for Sudanese exports and a primary source of consumer goods”.

Residence

He further criticised the new FA minister’s failure to travel to Port Sudan before starting with his work. Ambassador Ali Yousef has been residing in Egypt for many years.

“Established norms require a new minister to meet the authority that appointed him, represented by El Burhan, and receive his instructions before starting his official duties. He also did not adhere to the traditional handover process from the former minister, Ambassador Hussein Awad, and appoint his assistants before starting his work.”

The retired ambassador also noted that Ambassador Yousef remained, until his appointment, the head of the Popular Initiative to Support Sudanese-Egyptian Relations, “a group supported by the Egyptian authorities”.

Since his appointment, Yousef also met with Ahmed Aboul Gheit, the secretary-general of the Arab League.

‘No specific obligations’

He went on to say that “Yousef should have tried to obtain specific commitments from the Egyptian authorities to address the complaints and problems of the Sudanese in Egypt regarding residence, study, treatment, entry visas, et cetera, because that would have given credibility and understanding to his choice of Cairo as the beginning of his diplomatic work. [..]

“However, the meeting of the two foreign ministers came out with generalities and no actual measures were announced to solve the many problems the Sudanese are encountering in Egypt.”

The retired ambassador noted that the Sudanese FA minister avoided commenting on the Egyptian proposal to host a second civil society forum in Cairo. “This may be attributed to one of two reasons: the first is that Yousef was not informed about the Egyptian proposal. The second reason is that the Port Sudan government has reservations about holding this forum, especially since the rebel factions loyal to the SAF (the factions headed by Malik Agar, by Jibril Ibrahim, and by Minni Minawi refused to sign the final statement of the July conference Minister Abdel Aaty mentioned in his speech.”