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.
