Egypt's pro-government media is vilifying neighboring Sudan over its expanding ties with Turkey and Qatar, Cairo's regional nemesis, saying the three are conspiring against Egypt.
While the government has publicly remained silent, the media seized on a visit this week to Sudan by Turkey' president, a meeting between the chiefs of staff of Sudan, Turkey and Qatar and renewed efforts by Khartoum to revive a border dispute with Egypt.
The new low in relations deepens simmering tensions between Egypt and both Ethiopia and Sudan over the likely impact of a massive dam being built by Addis Abba on Egypt's vital share of Nile River waters.
"Sudanese President Omar Bashir is playing with fire in exchange for dollars," the editor of a Cairo daily, Al-Shorouk, wrote Thursday about Sudan's longtime ruler.