http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContentPrint/1/0/101231/Egypt/0/photo-pls-Ethiopia-ignores-repeated-calls-for-dam-.aspx
Ethiopia ignores 'repeated' calls for dam negotiations: Egypt FM
Ahram Online, Wednesday 14 May 2014
Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy says Egypt has repeatedly called for
negotiations with Ethiopia over the Grand Renaissance Dam but has not
received a real response
Egypt has repeatedly called for negotiations with Ethiopia over the Grand
Renaissance Dam but has not received a real response, Egyptian Foreign
Minister Nabil Fahmy said.
Fahmy, in an interview with Al-Ahram newspaper published on Wednesday, said
that Egypt would not forget the issue.
The under-construction dam is situated near the Sudanese border on the Blue
Nile, a Nile tributary. It is set to be the biggest hydroelectric dam in
Africa, producing as much as 6,000 megawatts of energy.
Egypt has repeatedly expressed its concern that the dam will affect its
share of Nile water. Ethiopia insists this will not happen.
We believe that Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan will benefits from reaching
solutions through negotiations, Fahmy added.
>From this standpoint, Fahmy added, he had met with the Ethiopian foreign
minister a month ago, where Fahmy presented some initial ideas, but is yet
to receive a response from Ethiopia.
Fahmy's comment contradicts Ethiopian statements that have previously
called for dialogue after tripartite talks between the two countries and
Sudan reached a stalemate.
In late April, Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn invited Egypt
and Sudan for another round of tripartite talks, while in March the
Ethiopian foreign minister said his country was adamant about holding talks
with Egypt.
Fahmy also said that previous negotiations were held in three stages but
"unfortunately didn't show an indication for positive development."
Last year, Ethiopia and five other Nile Basin countries - Rwanda, Tanzania,
Uganda, Kenya and Burundi - endorsed an accord, theCo-operative Framework
Agreement, which replaces a 1929 treaty granting Egypt veto power over any
project on the Nile in upstream countries.
Sudan, Egypt's immediate downstream country, has backed Ethiopia's plans to
build the dam.
Received on Wed May 14 2014 - 08:25:02 EDT