Sudan Slams Ethiopia Move at Controversial Nile Dam

Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed speaks during the first power generation ceremony at the site of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in Guba, Ethiopia, on February 20, 2022. (Getty Images)
Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed speaks during the first power generation ceremony at the site of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in Guba, Ethiopia, on February 20, 2022. (Getty Images)
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Sudan Slams Ethiopia Move at Controversial Nile Dam

Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed speaks during the first power generation ceremony at the site of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in Guba, Ethiopia, on February 20, 2022. (Getty Images)
Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed speaks during the first power generation ceremony at the site of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in Guba, Ethiopia, on February 20, 2022. (Getty Images)

Sudan has condemned neighboring Ethiopia for launching power generation at a controversial dam on the Blue Nile without the agreement of downstream nations, saying the "unilateral move" violated international commitments.

Sudan "has emphasized its rejection of all unilateral measures with regard to filling and operation" of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, the spokesman for its negotiating team, Omar Kamel, said in a statement late Monday.

He said the Ethiopian move was a "fundamental breach" of its commitments under international law.

The other downstream nation, Egypt, which has been bitterly opposed to the dam project ever since construction started more than a decade ago, has also sharply criticized Ethiopia for starting up the turbines on Sunday.

Multiple rounds of talks between the three governments since 2011 have failed to produce agreement on its operation.

The two downstream nations had also pushed for an agreement on the filling of the dam's reservoir, but Ethiopia went ahead without one in 2020.

Addis Ababa regards the dam project -- which will be Africa's largest when complete -- as essential to the development of Africa's second most populous country.

Egypt, which depends on the Nile for about 97 percent of its irrigation and drinking water, sees the dam as an existential threat.

Sudan hopes the project will regulate annual flooding, but fears its own dams will be harmed without agreement on its operation.



Palestinians Must Not Be Expelled from Gaza, Berlin Says After Trump Comments 

Internally displaced Palestinians make their way from southern to northern Gaza along Al-Rashid road, central Gaza Strip, 27 January 2025. (EPA)
Internally displaced Palestinians make their way from southern to northern Gaza along Al-Rashid road, central Gaza Strip, 27 January 2025. (EPA)
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Palestinians Must Not Be Expelled from Gaza, Berlin Says After Trump Comments 

Internally displaced Palestinians make their way from southern to northern Gaza along Al-Rashid road, central Gaza Strip, 27 January 2025. (EPA)
Internally displaced Palestinians make their way from southern to northern Gaza along Al-Rashid road, central Gaza Strip, 27 January 2025. (EPA)

The Palestinian population must not be expelled from Gaza, the German foreign ministry said on Monday after US President Donald Trump said Jordan and Egypt should take in Palestinians.

Asked for a reaction to Trump's comments, a foreign ministry spokesperson said Berlin shared the view of "the European Union, our Arab partners, the United Nations ... that the Palestinian population must not be expelled from Gaza and Gaza must not be permanently occupied or recolonized by Israel."

Jordan is already home to several million Palestinians, while tens of thousands live in Egypt. Both countries and other Arab nations reject the idea of Palestinians in Gaza being moved to their countries. Gaza is land that Palestinians would want as part of a future Palestinian state.