Egypt – The tension between Sudan and Egypt was renewed over the past two days on the background of the Halaib border issue (disputed between Khartoum and Cairo); on Tuesday, the Egyptian army broke into Sudanese territory about 4 kilometers and pursued metal diggers south of the Halaib hill. A number of them were arrested inside the Red Sea State in Wadi al-Alaqi. Hassan Ahmed Ibrahim a worker managed to escape the arrest told Sudan Tribune that an armed Egyptian force on board three four-wheel-drive Land Cruiser vehicles on Tuesday has raided the Al-Obeidiya mine inside Wadi al-Alaki and arrested 16 miners. He said the detainees include 2 of the mine owners and 14 workers, adding the Egyptian force seized 16 empty water barrels beside a truck. Meanwhile, the Egyptian authorities have tried the Sudanese miners who were arrested last week and set fines on each one of them ranging from 500 to 800 Egyptian Pound (EGP). A brother of one of the miners by the name of Ahmed Ibrahim told Sudan Tribune that the Egyptian authorities allowed his brother to contact his family, saying he told them that they have been tried in Tana, a town east of Aswan. “They were convicted of carrying out mining activities inside Egypt’s territory and the majority of the convicts are from North Darfur and Dar Hamid area in North Kordofan,” he added.
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