Cairo – Sputnik. The Sudanese Rapid Support Forces, headed by Dagalo, stated, in a statement on Facebook, “The Ethiopian authorities released (25) Sudanese citizens imprisoned in the capital of Benishangul province of Asusa, in conjunction with the visit of the Vice-President of the Transitional Sovereign Council, Lieutenant-General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.”
The statement added that the governor of the Blue Nile region, Ahmed Al-Omda, confirmed that “the step comes as a culmination of the protocols signed at the end of last year at the conference on developing border relations between the Blue Nile region and the Benishangul-Gemuz region, and in implementation of what was agreed upon between the two sides.”
The governor of the Blue Nile region affirmed that the efforts of the two parties will continue to implement everything that was agreed upon, especially in the security fields related to borders and trade issues.
The Deputy Chairman of the Sovereign Council, Commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, arrived in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, on Saturday, for a two-day official visit.
This is the first visit by a high-ranking Sudanese official since relations between the two countries were strained due to border disputes in the disputed Al-Fashqa area between them.
The relationship between Khartoum and Addis Ababa witnessed tensions at the end of 2020 against the backdrop of the redeployment of the Sudanese army in areas that Ethiopia considers part of its territory, in a crisis punctuated by armed skirmishes.
While Khartoum asserts that it has recovered Sudanese areas, which were seized by Ethiopia in 1995, Addis Ababa demanded the return of the situation to the way it was to resolve the conflict peacefully.
Sudan rejects the Ethiopian demand, stressing that its army is within its territory and will not leave it, and that the border issue is settled in accordance with international and bilateral agreements between the two countries.