Africa-Press-Ethiopia<\/p>\n
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi warned on Saturday against Ethiopia continuing to fill its Nile dam, on his first visit to Sudan since the removal of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir nearly two years ago.<\/p>\n
Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia have been locked for almost a decade in inconclusive talks over the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile, which broke ground in 2011.<\/p>\n
Egypt sees the structure as a threat to its water supply, while Sudan fears its own dams will be harmed if Ethiopia proceeds with filling the GERD before a deal is reached.<\/p>\n
“We reject the policy of imposing a fait accompli and extending control over the Blue Nile through unilateral measures without taking Sudan’s and Egypt’s interests into account,” Sisi said on Saturday, in a statement carried by Sudan’s state TV.<\/p>\n
Addis Ababa, which said it reached its first-year filling target last year, has declared plans to go ahead with the second phase of filling regardless of whether an agreement is in place.<\/p>\n
Egypt and Sudan “have agreed to relaunch negotiations with quadripartite mediation that includes the African Union, the United Nations, the European Union and the United States\u2026 to reach a deal before the flood season”, Sisi added, standing alongside the Sudanese head of state, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.<\/p>\n
Ethiopia claims it has the right to draw from the Nile after the waters have been long exploited by Egypt.<\/p>\n
Sisi has recently been on a diplomatic push, seeking support over the dam from South Sudan and South Africa, while his foreign minister, Sameh Shoukry, told UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday that negotiations needed to be relaunched.<\/p>\n
Ethiopia this week indicated its opposition to adding mediators to an existing, African Union-led process.<\/p>\n
The visit to Khartoum, Sisi’s first since Islamist Bashir’s ouster in April 2019, comes amid efforts to bolster Sudanese-Egyptian ties and amid tensions between Sudan and Ethiopia over a disputed border region.<\/p>\n
Since Bashir was toppled following mass protests in 2019, a military-civilian council has held power in Sudan under a political transition expected to last until the end of 2023.<\/p>\n
Tensions running high
\nSisi’s talks with Burhan, and separately with Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, also addressed maritime security in the Red Sea and the Sudan-Ethiopia border tensions, state TV reported.<\/p>\n
In a statement released after the meetings, the Egyptian presidency hinted at Cairo’s support for Khartoum in its border dispute with Addis Ababa.<\/p>\n
“Recent Sudanese moves to assert sovereignty over its eastern borders with Ethiopia are in line with Sudan’s respect for international border agreements,” a presidency spokesman, Bassam Rady, said.<\/p>\n
Tensions have been running high over the Al-Fashaqa border region, where Ethiopian farmers cultivate fertile land claimed by Sudan.<\/p>\n
The two countries have been trading accusations of violence in the area and territorial violations.<\/p>\n
This week, top Egyptian and Sudanese army officials signed a deal on military cooperation between the two countries, while Sudan’s Foreign Minister Mariam al-Mahdi also discussed the GERD in Cairo with Sisi and other Egyptian officials, according to Egypt’s foreign ministry.<\/p>\n
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Africa-Press-Ethiopia Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi warned on Saturday against Ethiopia continuing to fill its Nile dam, on his first visit to Sudan since the removal of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir nearly two years ago. Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia have been locked for almost a decade in inconclusive talks over the filling and operation of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":3408,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,12],"tags":[241,243],"class_list":["post-3407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","tag-africa-press-ethiopia","tag-gerd"],"yoast_head":"\n