to solve the Halaib dispute "in an integrational brotherly context..." In January 2000, Sudan withdrew its forces from the area, effectively ceding control of the border zone to Egypt, whose forces have occupied and administered the area since. 21st century In 2004 Sudanese president Omar Al-Bashir claimed that despite his nation's withdrawal in 2000, and Egypt's de facto control of the Triangle, the area still rightfully belonged to Sudan, which had "never relinquished" it. "We did not make any concessions.... The proof is that we have recently renewed the complaint to the Security Council," he said, according to the Press. Al-Bashir reiterated the Sudanese claim of sovereignty over Halaib in a 2010 speech in Port Sudan, saying "Halayeb is Sudanese and will always be Sudanese." The Eastern Front, a Sudanese politico-military coalition comprising the Beja Congress and Free Lions that signed a peace agreement with Khartoum, has stated that it considers Halaib to be part of Sudan due to its population being ethnically, linguistically and tribally connected to that country. The head of the Eastern Front and Beja Congress, Musa Muhammad Ahmad, has declared that the issue of Halaib's sovereignty should be decided by international arbitration in a similar manner to the issue of sovereignty over Abyei between Northern and Southern Sudan. In October 2009 the Electoral Commission that prepared a comprehensive plan for Sudan's general elections in April 2010 declared that Halaib was one of the Red Sea State electoral districts and that its people should exercise their constitutional rights and register in order to participate in the general elections. Voter registration did not take place in the Halaib Triangle area because the team from the Sudanese election commission was refused entry by Egyptian authorities. In December 2009, the Sudanese presidential assistant Musa Mohamed Ahmed was barred from entering the border area. Ahmed's visit was intended to "assert [Sudanese] sovereignty over the Halaib Triangle and inspect the situation of the people and provide moral and financial support to the members of the Sudanese army unit trapped inside since the [Egyptian] occupation began." His remarks were the first official recognition that Sudanese Army personnel remained inside the area of de facto Egyptian control. Ahmed also asserted that the Halaib Triangle is Sudanese and would not be forsaken "under any circumstances." The government of Egypt is taking steps to close the Egyptian-Sudanese trade center of Alshalateen and move it to the