Renaissance Dam: Egypt and Sudan denounce Ethiopia's "intransigent" attitude

The Great Renaissance Dam on the Nile in Ethiopia, September 26, 2019. REUTERS / Tiksa Negeri

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3 min

Ethiopia declared on Wednesday (April 7) determined to continue filling the mega-dam it is building on the Nile, despite the continuing dispute with Egypt and Sudan.

Still no compromise on the subject.

The capital of the DRC, Kinshasa, hosted until Tuesday April 7 a new round of negotiations on the subject.

The ministerial delegations of Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt had been convened since Sunday by Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi, current president in office of the African Union.

But the talks ended without success.

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Egypt and Sudan are united in anger.

Their respective Foreign Minister denounced

 Ethiopia's

 intransigent

attitude on Tuesday, April 7

.

The head of the Egyptian diplomacy Sameh Shoukri, for whom these negotiations were those of "

 the last chance 

", affirmed that the Ethiopian representatives had refused all their proposals.

Sudanese Minister Mariam al-Sadiq made very harsh remarks, accusing Ethiopia of " 

violating international law

 ", of " 

threatening the peoples of the Nile Basin and Sudan directly

 ".

According to her, the UN should withdraw its confidence in the Ethiopian soldiers stationed in the enclave of Abyei, "strategic depth" disputed between Sudan and South Sudan, while Addis Ababa "mass of troops" at the border of the El-Fashqa triangle, where the Sudanese army clashes with Ethiopian militias supported by the federal army.

She called on Félix Tshisekedi to find a way out of these “ 

endless and insufficient negotiations

 ”.

The role of "

observers

", a problem?

On the Ethiopian side, however, we are assured of its good faith.

Ethiopia's foreign ministry issued a long statement to explain.

He returned to the point of contention which prevented the signing of a joint communiqué: the role of American and European "observers" in the negotiations, which Sudan and Egypt want to see reinforced, which AddisAbeba refuses, wishing preserve the exclusively African character of the talks.

Reaffirming Ethiopia's right to harness the waters of the Nile, he confirmed that the second phase of filling the dam reservoir would indeed begin this summer, in the rainy season, despite threats.

The Congolese presidency, however, indicated that Félix Tshisekedi would make new proposals for the discussions to resume.

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  • Egypt

  • Sudan

  • Ethiopia

  • Felix Tshisekedi