The Sudanese Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources, Yasser Abbas, expected on Tuesday that Washington-backed negotiations over the Renaissance Dam should be resumed soon, but ruled out that Khartoum would play the role of a mediator to solve the dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia over the filling of the dam.
In mid-March, the deputy head of Sudan's Sovereign Council, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, said his country would work to bridge the gap between Ethiopia and Egypt over the Nile Dam and “reach an agreement" in the years-long dispute.
During a press conference held Tuesday via the social media, Abbas said that Sudan is a key party in the ongoing Renaissance Dam negotiations, and therefore it cannot play the role of a mediator who must be neutral.
“Sudan is negotiating to preserve its water rights in the Nile river and its tributaries, but at the same time it encourages cooperation among the three parties and believes in negotiations to reach a comprehensive agreement that preserves the rights of all and leads to sustainable regional cooperation,” he said.
The Minister stressed that the safety of the dam is an inherent part of the negotiating issues, indicating that there was a draft agreement prepared by the committee composed of the three parties and was negotiated in detail and most of its issues were agreed upon and few remain that need more negotiation.
The minister said the negotiations did not collapse, but Ethiopia requested that it be given an opportunity to conduct some internal consultations, expecting that it would be resumed in the near future.
The Minister of Irrigation indicated that there is a draft agreement drawn up by the committee composed of the three parties in coordination with the observers- the US Treasury and the World Bank - and there are few items of the agreement that need to be agreed upon.
“Sudan’s position is clear as was confirmed in the last meeting at the end of last February, which is that there is no point in partially signing a draft agreement in which not all details have been completed,” he said.
Last week, Addis Ababa has disregarded Cairo’s repetitive warnings of taking unilateral procedures related to the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), which Ethiopia is constructing at the Nile River.
