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Ethiopia, Egypt Exchange Accusations on Deadlocked Renaissance Dam Talks

Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance Dam is seen as it undergoes construction work on the Nile. Reuters file photo
Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance Dam is seen as it undergoes construction work on the Nile. Reuters file photo
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Ethiopia, Egypt Exchange Accusations on Deadlocked Renaissance Dam Talks

Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance Dam is seen as it undergoes construction work on the Nile. Reuters file photo
Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance Dam is seen as it undergoes construction work on the Nile. Reuters file photo

Negotiations over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) continued for the seventh day between Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan in hopes for reaching a solution to the legal points on water sharing.

Cairo and Addis Ababa exchanged verbal accusations, with Egypt threatening to resort to the UN Security Council, and Ethiopia saying that Cairo’s position has become an obstacle in the ongoing talks.

The negotiations were held via video conferencing with the participation of observers from the United States, the European Union, and South Africa, which is the current chair of the African Union.

Sudanese Irrigation Minister Yasser Abbas announced that the three countries agreed on the majority of the technical issues. However, Egypt wants to sign a comprehensive agreement to fill and operate the dam, which Ethiopia is building on the Blue Nile, before beginning to fill the reservoir as scheduled in July.

The Ethiopian Foreign Minister, Gedu Andargachew, accused Egypt of obstructing the negotiations, stressing that Cairo is only looking for its own interest.

"Egypt came to the latest negotiation with one leg on the talks and another aimed at lodging a complaint to the UN Security Council," Andargachew said, according to state-owned Ethiopian News Agency (ENA).

"Egypt wants to take everything for itself with no willingness to give," he was quoted as saying.

On Monday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry warned that Cairo may resort to the Security Council to prevent Ethiopia from taking any “unilateral” action on the hydropower project if Addis Ababa remains "intransigent."

He pointed out that the recent tripartite talks did not yield positive results due to the Ethiopian obstinacy.

Meanwhile, informed sources said the countries agree on the technical issues relating to the safety of the dam, filling it during the upcoming Ethiopian rain season and in regular seasons, and drought management rules.

However, differences remain on a number of legal matters such as mandatory clauses that ensure compliance and mechanisms to resolve disputes.

Sudan suggested holding negotiations at the level of prime ministers if no agreement was reached, but Ethiopia and Egypt preferred to continue talks among water resources ministers and legal experts.

In 2015, the leaders of the three countries signed an initial agreement on the Renaissance Dam to guarantee Egypt’s share of 55 billion cubic meters of the Nile water.

Egyptian water expert Mohamed Nasreddine Allam said that the negotiations could end with one of three possible scenarios. He believes Ethiopia could hold onto its position, after which Egypt will announce the failure of the talks and warn Addis Ababa against filling the dam, further escalating the situation.

Allam indicated that the second possible outcome could be that Ethiopia responds to the demands of Sudan and Egypt, and agrees to an initial agreement, or the final scenario, where Addis Ababa agrees to some of the demands and continues negotiating on other controversial issues which require additional time.

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Opposition Forces Breach Syria’s Second-Largest City Aleppo, Fighters and a War Monitor Say

Smoke rises in the distance as anti-regime fighters hold a position on the outskirts of the northern city of Aleppo on November 29, 2024. (AFP)
Smoke rises in the distance as anti-regime fighters hold a position on the outskirts of the northern city of Aleppo on November 29, 2024. (AFP)
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Opposition Forces Breach Syria’s Second-Largest City Aleppo, Fighters and a War Monitor Say

Smoke rises in the distance as anti-regime fighters hold a position on the outskirts of the northern city of Aleppo on November 29, 2024. (AFP)
Smoke rises in the distance as anti-regime fighters hold a position on the outskirts of the northern city of Aleppo on November 29, 2024. (AFP)

Opposition fighters breached Syria’s second-largest city Aleppo after blowing up two car bombs on Friday and were clashing with government forces on the city's western edge, according to a Syria war monitor and combatants.

It was the first time the city has been attacked by opposition forces since 2016, when they were ousted from Aleppo's eastern neighborhoods following a grueling military campaign in which Syrian government forces were backed by Russia, Iran and its allied groups.

Witnesses in Aleppo city said residents have been fleeing neighborhoods on the western edge of the city because of missiles and exchanges of fire. The government did not comment on the fighters breaching city limits.

Syria's Armed Forces said in a statement Friday it has been clashing with fighters in the countryside around Aleppo and Idlib, destroying several of their drones and heavy weapons. It vowed to repel the attack and accused the fighters of spreading false information about their advances.

Thousands of fighters have been advancing toward Aleppo city since a shock offensive they launched on Wednesday, seizing several towns and villages along the way.

The offensive came as Iran-linked groups, who had backed Syrian government forces since 2015, have been preoccupied with their own battle at home.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said the fighters blew up two car bombs at the city’s western edge on Friday.

An opposition faction commander issued a recorded message posted on social media calling on the city's residents to cooperate with the advancing forces.

Türkiye state-run Anadolu Agency reported that the opposition forces entered Aleppo city center Friday. It said the fighters “broke through the defense lines of the regime forces along the Hamdaniyya, New Aleppo, and Zahra axis on the outskirts of the city.”

It added the fighters now control approximately 70 locations in Aleppo and Idlib provinces.

Syria’s state media reported earlier Friday that projectiles from fighters landed in the student accommodations at Aleppo's university in the city center, killing four people, including two students. Public transportation to the city had also been diverted from the main highway linking Aleppo to the capital Damascus to avoid clashes, the report said.

Fighters also advanced on the town of Saraqab, in northwestern Idlib province, a strategic area that would secure supply lines to Aleppo.

This week's advances were one of the largest by opposition factions, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, and comes after weeks of low simmering violence. It is most intense fighting in northwestern Syria since 2020, when government forces seized areas previously controlled by opposition fighters.

Syria’s Armed Forces said the fighters are violating a 2019 agreement that de-escalated fighting in the area, which has been the last remaining opposition stronghold for years.

The war monitor Observatory said dozens of fighters from both sides have been killed in the battles that started Wednesday. The opposition fighters have seized control of more than 50 villages in their advance, which seem to have caught the government forces unprepared.

Hezbollah, the lead group in an Iran-linked alliance that has backed Syria's government, has been locked in a war with Israel that escalated since September. A ceasefire was announced Wednesday, the day the Syrian opposition factions announced their offensive. Israel has also escalated its attacks against Hezbollah and Iran-linked targets in Syria during the last 70 days.

“Hezbollah was the main force in the government’s control of the city,” said Rami Abdurrahman, head of the Observatory.

The factions reported earlier Friday that fighters had wrested control of the Scientific Research Center neighborhood, about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from the western outskirts of Aleppo city. Government-linked media denied the fighters have seized it.

The Associated Press was not able to immediately verify the claims.

Fighters posted videos online showing they were using drones in their advance, a new weapon they had not had previously in the earlier stages of their confrontation with government forces. It was not clear to what extent the drones were used on the battleground.

The Anadolu Agency, reporting from Idlib, said the fighters attacked a military airbase southeast of Aleppo city with drones early Friday, destroying a helicopter. It said the opposition groups seized heavy weapons, depots and military vehicles belonging to the government forces during their advance.

Aid groups said the fighting has displaced thousands of families, and forced some services to be suspended. The opposition fighters said their offensive will allow the return of thousands of displaced people who were forced to flee government bombardment in recent weeks.

The 2016 battle for Aleppo was a turning point in the war between Syrian government forces and opposition fighters since the 2011 protests against Bashar Assad’s rule turned into an all-out war.

Russia and Iran and its allied groups had helped Syrian government forces reclaim control of all of Aleppo that year, after a grueling military campaign and a siege that lasted for weeks.

Türkiye has been a main backer of an array of opposition forces and its troops have established military presence in parts of northwestern Syria. Separately and largely in the east of Syria, the United States has supported Syrian Kurdish forces fighting ISIS militants.