Three-way talks on Blue Nile dam dispute to resume Tuesday
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[October 26, 2020]
By Giulia Paravicini
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Negotiations
between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan over a controversial multi-billion
dollar dam on the Blue Nile will resume on Tuesday, nearly two months
after Egypt left the talks, African Union chairman Cyril Ramaphosa said
on Monday.
A bitter dispute between the three countries over the filling and
operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) remains
unresolved even after the reservoir behind the dam began filling in
July.
"The resumption of the trilateral negotiations on the GERD ... is a
reaffirmation of the confidence that the parties have in an African-led
negotiations process," Ramaphosa, who is South Africa's president, said
in a statement.
The resumption of talks comes two days after Ethiopia summoned the U.S.
ambassador over what it called an "incitement of war" between Ethiopia
and Egypt by U.S. President Donald Trump over the dam dispute.
Trump called on Friday for an agreement between the countries, but said
it was a dangerous situation and that Cairo could end up "blowing up
that dam".
Sudan's Irrigation Ministry said talks on Tuesday would discuss a new
model for talks giving "a bigger role to experts and observers".
"Then the new negotiation methods will be put to the heads of state to
decide on them and resume negotiations on the basis of a precise
timetable," the ministry said in a statement.
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Egypt, which gets more than 90% of its scarce fresh water from the
Nile and fears the dam could devastate its economy, left the
negotiations in August after Ethiopia proposed a new timeline for
filling the GERD.
Trump also said Ethiopia had broken a U.S.-brokered agreement to
resolve the dispute, forcing him to cut funds. The United States cut
$100 million in aid to Ethiopia in September.
Ethiopian lawmakers said on Monday that "no force on earth" would
stop the completion of the dam and that they were ready to defend it
from internal as well as external attacks.
"We will defend any possible internal and external attacks and
conspiracies and we shall complete the dam," the lawmakers from the
lower House said in a statement.
(Additional reporting by Dawit Endeshaw in Addis Ababa and Khalid
Abdelaziz in Khartoum; Writing by Giulia Paravicini, Editing by
Catherine Evans and Nick Macfie)
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