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(Photographed by AFP)

Relations between Cairo and the newly forged South Sudan are strong, according to South Sudan Foreign Minister Nhial Deng Nhial. The minister, who has yet to visit Egypt, told Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm that South Sudan would not encroach on Egypt’s allocated Nile water.

Deng said that the country’s friendly relationship with Israel will not pose any threat to Egypt. South Sudanese President Salva Kiir’s first foreign visit was to Tel Aviv.

“Israel was one of the first countries to recognize South Sudan and showed a desire to establish good relations with us,” he said.

He said South Sudan officials have not yet visited Cairo because Egyptian government officials remain occupied with internal affairs adding that Egypt’s geographic proximity meant the two countries should be close.

Deng denied speculations that South Sudan and Israel could be forming an alliance in anticipation of the rise of Islamist regimes in the Middle East after the Arab Spring.

For more, please read Al-Masry Al-Youm.