UAE steps in to ease Nile dam crisis
Sudanese reports recently revealed that the United Arab Emirates is seeking an initiative to bring the views of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia closer so as to break the deadlock in the negotiations on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
CAIRO — The Sudan News Agency (SUNA) reported Jan. 13 that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is seeking an initiative and mediation to converge the views of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia with the aim to break the deadlock in the negotiations on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
According to SUNA, an Emirati Foreign Ministry delegation visited Khartoum Jan. 12 where it met with officials from the Sudanese ministries of foreign affairs, and irrigation and water resources. The Sudanese officials briefed the Emirati delegation about Sudan’s position in the GERD dossier. A well-informed source cited by SUNA said the Emirati initiative did not come upon a Sudanese request.
The UAE has yet to officially comment on the report, while Emirati media have remained radio silent.
A few days earlier, on Jan. 10, Khartoum announced the failure to reach a binding and legal agreement on the filling and operation of the dam during the latest round of GERD negotiations between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan, sponsored by the African Union (AU). “We cannot continue this vicious cycle of circular talks indefinitely,” Sudanese Irrigation Minister Yasir Abbas said in a statement, calling for a change in the negotiations’ mechanism.
