Sudan Expresses Reservations Over New Round of GERD Talkshttps://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2722711/sudan-expresses-reservations-over-new-round-gerd-talks
Sudan Expresses Reservations Over New Round of GERD Talks
A handout satellite image shows a closeup view of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and the Blue Nile River in Ethiopia (Reuters)
Cairo, Khartoum- Mohammed Abdu Hassanein and Mohammed Amin Yassine
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Sudan Expresses Reservations Over New Round of GERD Talks
A handout satellite image shows a closeup view of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and the Blue Nile River in Ethiopia (Reuters)
Sudan announced it was not attending the new round of talks on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), in a new setback for the negotiation process led by the African Union (AU).
The AU called Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan for a one-week round of negotiations on January 3 to discuss the GERD issue, after talks had been suspended for a month.
A six-way meeting was also scheduled for the end of the week between foreign and irrigation ministers of the three countries, chaired by South Africa, current AU president, to consider the outcomes of the tripartite negotiations round.
The Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation announced that Ethiopia sent an invitation for the meeting, which was also meant to include irrigation ministers, technical and legal delegations, and AU observers and experts.
However, Sudan announced its reservation over participation in the Tripartite Ministerial Meeting, requesting a bilateral meeting with the AU experts and observers.
Sudan’s Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources explained in a statement that it did not receive a response to its request, but received an invitation to resume the direct tripartite negotiations.
“Instead of a reply to this request, Sudan received an invitation for a direct tripartite meeting, so it has expressed its reservations over participating in this meeting.”
Khartoum reiterated its firm position on the necessity of giving a greater role to the Union experts to facilitate negotiations.
Egypt agreed with Ethiopia to raise the matter to the South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, so that future steps will be discussed during the ministerial meeting, scheduled for January 10.
The three countries have been engaged in strenuous negotiations for about 10 years to agree on mechanisms for operating and filling the dam, without yielding any results so far.
Cairo and Khartoum want to reach an agreement before the second phase of filling the reservoir in a way that achieves the common interests of the three countries and secures Egypt's rights and water interests.
Addis Ababa finished last July the first phase of filling the reservoir, in preparation for its operation, and the second phase is expected to begin next June.
The negotiations are held with the participation of experts and observers from the US, EU, World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the African Union.
EU’s Borrell Urges Lebanon and Israel to Ease Tensions Along Their Borderhttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5060526-eu%E2%80%99s-borrell-urges-lebanon-and-israel-ease-tensions-along-their-border
European Union's top diplomat Josep Borrell (L) and Lebanon's caretaker Foreign Affairs Minister Abdallah Bou Habib (R) give a joint press conference, at the ministry's headquarters in Beirut on September 12, 2024. (AFP)
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EU’s Borrell Urges Lebanon and Israel to Ease Tensions Along Their Border
European Union's top diplomat Josep Borrell (L) and Lebanon's caretaker Foreign Affairs Minister Abdallah Bou Habib (R) give a joint press conference, at the ministry's headquarters in Beirut on September 12, 2024. (AFP)
The European Union’s top diplomat on Thursday urged Lebanon and Israel to work on deescalating tensions along the border, saying that since his last trip to the region in January “the drums of war have not stopped pounding.”
The comments of Josep Borrell, the EU foreign policy chief, came as members of the Hezbollah group and Israel’s military carried out cross border attacks along the tense frontier on Thursday.
Western and Arab officials have visited Beirut over the past year to try to reduce tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border, but Hezbollah officials have said they will only stop carrying out attacks along the border when Israel stops its offensive in the Gaza Strip.
“Since I lasted visited Lebanon in January the drums of war have not stopped pounding,” Borrell told reporters in Beirut during a joint press conference with Lebanon’s caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib. “Since then, the fears I was outlining have been growing, more escalation, fears of a spillover of the war in Gaza and fears of more widespread human suffering.”
In late August, Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah pulled back after an exchange of heavy fire that briefly raised fears of an all-out war.
Borrell said that according to the United Nations more than 4,000 residential buildings have been completely destroyed in Lebanon and more than 110,000 Lebanese have been forced to leave their homes along the border. He said the same thing is happening on the Israeli side of the border.
The European official said that his message is that the European Union “stands on the side of the Lebanese people to help to overcome the threats and challenges as much as we can.”
This handout picture provided by the Lebanese Parliament Press Office shows European Union's top diplomat Josep Borrell (C) and his delegation meeting with Lebanese parliament Speaker Nabih Berri (R), in Beirut on September 12, 2024. (Lebanese Parliament / AFP)
Mikati and Berri
Borrell also met with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and parliament Speaker Nabih Berri during his visit.
Mikati expressed his appreciation for Borrell’s stances in support of Lebanon, calling for intensifying international and UN pressure on Israel to halt its attacks against Lebanon.
He also urged intensified cooperation between Lebanon and the EU to tackle the Syrian refugee file and its “current and future” dangers on the country, said a government statement.
Talks with Berri focused on local and regional developments.
The speaker hailed the EU official’s positions in support of Lebanon against Israel, adding that “Lebanon doesn’t want war, but it has the right to and is capable of defending itself.”
More than 500 people have been killed in Lebanon by Israeli strikes since Oct. 8, most of them fighters with Iran-backed Hezbollah and other armed groups but also more than 100 civilians. In northern Israel, 23 soldiers and 26 civilians have been killed by strikes from Lebanon.
“We need to deescalate military tensions and I use this opportunity to urge all sides to pursue this path,” said Borrell, who on Tuesday visited UN peacekeepers deployed in southern Lebanon along the border with Israel.
He added that the “full and asymmetrical implementation” of UN Security Council resolution 1701 that ended the summer 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war should pave the way for a comprehensive settlement including land border demarcation and allowing the return of people and reconstruction in the affected border areas.
“The European Union is doing a lot, but we don’t have a magic wand,” he said.
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati (R) talks to European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell (L) during their meeting at the government palace in Beirut, Lebanon, 12 September 2024. (EPA)
On Lebanese affairs, he urged officials to elect a president of the republic to end the nearly two-year vacancy in the country’s top post.
“There is no way for you to defend the Lebanese interests abroad - in the broader world - without being, in the first place, stable and united at home,” he said.
“You have to fix your economy, you have to reform your banking sector - this is crucial,” he added.
“The European Union is ready to continue supporting Lebanon, and Lebanon’s leaders to face the challenges of stability for the sake of the resilient Lebanese people - who, like many others in the region, have been kept away from peace and prosperity,” he remarked.
“But we can only assist, we can only [help] overcome the internal obstacles, if the Lebanese help themselves. Working for the interest of the Lebanese people, and no one else, is the way to go,” he stressed.
Borrell was set to travel to Israel but cancelled the trip after its Foreign Minister Israel Katz denied him entry over his statements that the EU should slap sanctions on extremist Ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich over their hate messages against Palestinians.
