Acting Director of the Egyptian General Intelligence Service (GIS), Abbas Kamel, visited Sudan on Sunday and met with Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir.

The meeting is a sign of improving the situation of bilateral relations that have been facing some challenges recently, said former assistant foreign minister Gamal Bayomi.

“I am very optimistic with the relations outlook. However, we should be careful because,” added Bayoumi.

“It is positive that Sudanese Ambassador Abdel-Mahmoud Abdel-Halim returned to Cairo two months after withdrawing,” noted Gamal.

“GIS’s role complements the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ exerted efforts in many regional issues with specific countries such as Sudan, Libya, Israel, and the United States,” said former assistant foreign affairs minister Rakha Ahmed.

“The GIS director’s visit to Sudan is a part of the joint quartet committee that was formed under a decision by Al-Bashir and President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi during the latest African summit which was held in January,” added Ahmed.

The relations between Egypt and Sudan have been strained over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Some media reports claimed that Egypt wanted to exclude Sudan from the tripartite talks with Ethiopia.

On 8 January, Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry stressed that Egypt did not ask Ethiopia to exclude Sudan from the negotiations.