Sudan, Egypt, Ethiopia to hold ‘daily’ talks over Nile dam
Sudan on Tuesday said it would hold “daily meetings” with Egypt and Ethiopia to ease tensions over a mega-dam being built on the Nile after a war of words between Cairo and Addis Ababa.
“It was agreed to continue daily meetings, except on Friday and Sunday, to reach consensus on the remaining points,” Sudanese Irrigation Minister Yasser Abbas said.
He spoke in Khartoum after a five-hour meeting with his Egyptian and Ethiopian counterparts failed to make any progress in the negotiations amid tensions between Cairo and Addis Ababa.
Earlier Tuesday, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi strongly rebuked Ethiopia accusing Addis Ababa of stalling negotiations over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and moving ahead with plans to start filling the reservoir before reaching a deal.
“A timeline must be set to finish up negotiations, so it does not turn into a new tactic of stalling and shirking responsibility from the 2015 Declaration of Principles which all three countries agreed to,” Sisi’s office said in a statement.
The agreement signed by Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan paved the way for diplomatic talks after Addis Ababa began construction of the dam nearly a decade ago.
The strongly-worded statement from Sisi’s office said Ethiopia’s position was “inconsistent” with its legal obligations and “casts a shadow over the negotiations.”
It came on the day when the three countries resumed talks, after Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok coaxed Egypt and Ethiopia to resume negotiations to resolve their differences.
But Egypt said the invite “comes three weeks too late” as Ethiopia had already “signalled their intention to move forward with filling the reservoir of the Renaissance Dam without reaching an agreement.”
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed told lawmakers on Monday that his country would stick to its plan to soon begin partial filling of the reservoir.
“The dam is a project that will pull Ethiopia out of poverty. Ethiopia wants to develop together with others, not hurt the interests of other countries,” he said.