Hala'ib Triangle
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The Hala'ib Triangle (مثلث حلايب in Arabic, transliterated Muthallath Halāʾib or Muṯallaṯ Ḥalāʾib) is an area of land measuring 20,580 km² located on the Red Sea's African coast, between the borders of Egypt and Sudan. The major town in this area is Hala'ib. Shalateen is the Egyptian frontier town just on the northern administrative border.
The description of the area as a triangle is a rough generalization. Only the longer, 290 km long southern border, which follows the 22nd Circle of latitude, is a straight line. While the whole area is north of the 22nd Circle of latitude, a smaller disputed area south of the 22nd Circle, Bir Tawil, joins the Hala'ib Triangle at its westernmost point along the 22nd Circle, which makes this point a Quadripoint.
Sovereignty over the area has never been satisfactorily determined. Both Egypt and Sudan claim ownership over the land.
In 1899, at which time the United Kingdom held great influence in the area, the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium Agreement for Sudan set the border at the 22nd parallel. However, in 1902, for its own convenience, the United Kingdom drew a separate “administrative boundary,” under which a triangle of land north of the parallel was placed under Sudanese administration because it was closer to Khartoum than Cairo and would be the responsibility of the British Governor located in Khartoum.
In 1958, Gamal Abdel Nasser sent Egyptian troops into the disputed region but withdrew them shortly afterwards[citation needed].
Although both countries laid claim to the land, the area remained under Sudanese control until the dispute resurfaced in 1992, when Egypt objected to Sudan’s granting of exploration rights in the waters off the Halaib Triangle to a Canadian oil company[citation needed]. Negotiations began, but the company pulled out of the deal until sovereignty was settled[citation needed]. In January 2000, Sudan withdrew its own forces from the area, effectively ceding control of the border zone to Egypt, whose forces have occupied the area ever since[citation needed].
However, Sudanese president Omar Al-Bashir claimed in 2004 that despite his nation's withdrawal, and Egypt's control of the Hala'ib triangle, that the triangle still rightfully belonged to Sudan. He insisted that Sudan had “never relinquished” the town of Hala'ib and its surrounding environs. “We did not make any concessions... The proof is that we have recently renewed the complaint to the Security Council,” he said, according to Associated Press[citation needed].
Newly discovered oil reserves in the territory may have prompted Al-Bashir’s decision to resurrect Sudan’s claim, and this has only increased the desire of both states to claim the area[citation needed].
The Eastern Front, a Sudanese politico-military grouping comprising the Beja Congress and Free Lions that recently signed a peace agreement with Khartoum have stated that they consider Hala'ib to be part of Sudan due to the fact that Hala'ib is inhabited by their ethnic, linguistic and tribal compatriots[citation needed].
