President Salva Kiir and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Cairo on 10th January 2017. | Credit | Courtesy

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has dismissed reports suggesting that South Sudan has agreed to offer a Military Base for the Egyptian army at the South Sudan-Ethiopian border town of Pagak.

Pagak is a border town located at South Sudan – Ethiopia border.

It is about 100 kilometers from western Ethiopia regional capital, Gambella.

A statement from South Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs cited a social media report that Kiir’s administration had agreed to the Egyptian government’s request to build a military base in Pagak of Maiwut County, Upper Nile state.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Internation Cooperation of the Republic of South Sudan hereby denies in the strongest terms possible the information which has been circulated in the social media that the Government of South Sudan has agreed to Egyptian request to build a Military Base in Pagak,” read part of the statement.

“The  Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation would like to inform the public that the information contained in that piece of news is categorically unfounded and baseless. There is nothing of the kind.”

“No agreement has been reached whatsoever to allocate a piece of land for Egyptian Military Base in the territory of the Republic of South Sudan.”

The report comes as the disagreement between Egypt and Ethiopia over the renaissance dam intensifies.

Observers believe that the two countries could go to war over the Nile River waters.

However, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Raphael Nhail – rubbished the reports:

“What has been written through social media has no basic completely, there’s nothing like that and there is no agreement that has been reached with the Egyptian,” Nhial said.

The foreign ministry said Egypt and Ethiopia have been cooperating with South Sudan in implementing the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan.