CAIRO — Al-Monitor obtained a hard copy of the final report by the International Panel of Experts (IPE) about their assessment of the effects and repercussions of building the controversial Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

The report was completed on May 31, 2013, and copies were delivered to the governments of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia. However, the report remained confidential and its technical details undisclosed, but was particularly critical of Ethiopia’s assessment of the dam.

An Egyptian diplomatic source who is familiar with the Nile water file told Al-Monitor, “The Egyptian government has rejected publicizing the report because they were planning to use it as a pressure card in the negotiations with Addis Ababa, to reduce and modify the specifications of the dam’s construction and to reduce the expected negative impacts on Egypt. The report serves the Egyptian position even though the negotiations are stalled.”

The negotiations, which began between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia in three rounds in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, in November-December 2013 and January 2014, might be unable to reach an agreement on how to implement the recommendations contained in the IPE report. The technical negotiations were deadlocked, and Egypt has started taking legal and international escalatory steps against Ethiopia.