The Foreign Minister of Sudan’s junta government, Mohieddin Salem, openly acknowledged Egypt’s support for Islamic Movement militias striving to prolong the war. Speaking after a meeting between Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdel-A’tti and General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Salem issued a defiant statement of solidarity.
“Our message to the fighters is simple: you are not alone. Egypt stands with you, along with other unnamed nations,” Salem declared. He praised what he described as strong cooperation between Egypt, the militias, and the Port Sudan Authority, urging all institutions to deepen their wartime commitments.
Yet the message from Cairo painted a different picture, highlighting a stark contradiction at the heart of regional diplomacy. Abdel-A’tti insisted Egypt was working tirelessly through international frameworks, including the Quartet Mechanism, to end the war and secure a humanitarian truce.
He stressed that Cairo’s objective remained a ceasefire leading to a Sudanese-led political process, one capable of restoring peace and stability to the nation. Following his remarks, Islamic Movement militias in Sudan turned their rhetoric against Egypt, raising the “Rabaa al-Adawiya” sign linked to the Muslim Brotherhood.
The gestures were a provocative reminder of Egypt’s turbulent past with the Brotherhood, viewed in Cairo as a terrorist organisation seeking to destabilise the state. The opposing statements underscored the fragility of trust between Sudan’s junta and its most powerful neighbour, even as conflict ravages both armies and civilians.
In Port Sudan, Salem’s endorsement of the militias seemed less a diplomatic overture and more a rallying cry for endless confrontation. In Cairo, Abdel-A’tti’s message sought to frame Egypt as a peacemaker, bound by regional responsibility and international consensus to end the war.
