Khartoum appears to have been angered by the idea that Egyptian armed groups would find refuge in Sudan.

Sudan has summoned the Egyptian ambassador to Khartoum to complain about a TV series that portrays Egyptian rebel fighters living in the neighbouring country.

The Sudanese foreign ministry said on Saturday that the Ramadan series, titled Abu Amr al-Masry, broadcasted by ON TV satellite channel, is “insulting to Egyptians living in Sudan and destroying the confidence and relations between the people of the two countries”.

It urged Egypt to “stop attempts at disturbing the interests of the two countries”.

Khartoum appears to have been angered by the idea that Egyptian armed groups would find refuge in Sudan. Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and other armed group members were based in Sudan in the mid-1990s.

Diplomatic ties between Cairo and Khartoum have largely remained tense, particularly since last year after Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir accused Egyptian intelligence services of supporting opposition figures fighting his troops in the country’s conflict zones such as Darfur.

Diplomatic relations have been further strained over the past year by Khartoum’s revival of a long-standing border dispute and its perceived support for Ethiopia, which is building an upstream dam on the Nile that Egypt fears will cut into its share of the river.