Egypt Welcomes Saudi-Yemeni Border AgreementEgypt on Wednesday expressed welcome to the signing of a border agreement between Saudi Arabia and Yemen, hailing it as "a great achievement" of the two neighbors.Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa said that Egypt "highly appreciates such a great achievement that will help clear the air between both Arab countries." "What has been achieved (by Riyadh and Sanaa) is a development (in their ties) and a very good example that should be followed in dealing with the inter-Arab relations," Moussa was quoted by Egypt's Middle East News Agency as telling reporters. He expressed hope that the agreement will encourage other Arab countries that have territorial disputes to "follow suit because the Arab world needs no disputes". The Arab world "needs to solve its problems peacefully, via reconciliatory and satisfactory solutions that will open the way for cooperation, integration and communication," he stressed. Saudi Arabia and Yemen signed the border demarcation agreement in the western Saudi city of Jeddah on Monday during a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia by Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Yemeni officials accompanying Saleh said the agreement laid down arrangements for the demarcation of 1,500 kilometers inland and maritime borders. Riyadh and Sanaa have been locked in border deputes since the 1930s and witnessed occasional border clashes of their security forces. They have to re-locate about 300 border signs which had disappeared due to denudation and aging factors. The two Arab neighbors also need to negotiate a solution to their maritime border dispute in the Red Sea, where their border guards exchanged fires in July, 1998. |
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