Russia Expands its Presence to Syrian-Jordanian Border

Gunmen settle their status at the center in Nassib. (Getty Images)
Gunmen settle their status at the center in Nassib. (Getty Images)
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Russia Expands its Presence to Syrian-Jordanian Border

Gunmen settle their status at the center in Nassib. (Getty Images)
Gunmen settle their status at the center in Nassib. (Getty Images)

Russian troops and the Syrian regime established a center for settling the status of gunmen, the wanted, and military deserters and handing over their weapons in Nassib town.

The agreement, based on the settlement agreement proposed by the state in August, started in Nassib near the Jordanian border in the southern Daraa province.

The center implements the new Russian map agreement for the settlement areas in southern Syria, which includes handing over light and medium weapons in the region.

The previous agreement in 2018 allowed former opposition fighters to keep their weapons.

Local sources in Nassib said a security committee of the regime arrived at the center to implement settlements. It will work with the Russian police and local forces from residents affiliated with the Military Security department.

The agreement includes several areas on the border, which are considered areas of influence affiliated with the former commander of the Yarmouk Army, Imad Abu Zureik.

Abu Zureik has been in charge of these areas within the military-security apparatus since the settlement agreement in 2018.

The Daraa province has witnessed in recent days similar settlement operations, starting from the Daraa al-Balad neighborhood.

Previously, the Ninth Division al-Sanamayn, located north of Daraa, met with the security committee of the regime and the Russian forces in coordination with Abu Zreik, who heads a group working for the military security in these areas.

The meeting included officials from Nassib, Umm al-Mayathen and al-Taibah.

The Nassib crossing is strategically located on the Damascus-Amman International Highway and it recently reopened following an agreement between the Jordanian and Syrian governments.

It is one of the most critical areas of the military security’s influence and boasts a large group of volunteers, who are affiliated with Abu Zureik.

Abu Zureik returned from Jordan after the reconciliation agreement in 2018 and formed affiliated groups working for the military security, namely in Nassib, Umm al-Mayathen and al-Taibah.

Informed sources said the Russian map would include Giza and al-Mutaiyah in the eastern countryside of Daraa. The agreement was reached following a meeting with local notables from Daraa al-Mahatta on Saturday.

They added that the new agreement includes areas adjacent to the Jordanian border, including the police stations within the administrative boundaries of Daraa.



Egypt Says GERD Lacks Legally Binding Agreement

This grab taken from video shows Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, Ethiopia, Feb. 20, 2022. (AP Photo)
This grab taken from video shows Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, Ethiopia, Feb. 20, 2022. (AP Photo)
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Egypt Says GERD Lacks Legally Binding Agreement

This grab taken from video shows Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, Ethiopia, Feb. 20, 2022. (AP Photo)
This grab taken from video shows Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, Ethiopia, Feb. 20, 2022. (AP Photo)

Egypt said Friday that Ethiopia has consistently lacked the political will to reach a binding agreement on its now-complete dam, an issue that involves Nile River water rights and the interests of Egypt and Sudan.

Ethiopia’s prime minister said Thursday that the country’s power-generating dam, known as the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), on the Nile is now complete and that the government is “preparing for its official inauguration” in September.

Egypt has long opposed the construction of the dam, because it would reduce the country's share of Nile River waters, which it almost entirely relies on for agriculture and to serve its more than 100 million people.

The more than the $4 billion dam on the Blue Nile near the Sudan border began producing power in 2022. It’s expected to eventually produce more than 6,000 megawatts of electricity — double Ethiopia’s current output.

Ethiopia and Egypt have spent years trying to reach an agreement over the dam, which Ethiopia began building in 2011.

Both countries reached no deal despite negotiations over 13 years, and it remains unclear how much water Ethiopia will release downstream in case of a drought.

Egyptian officials, in a statement, called the completion of the dam “unlawful” and said that it violates international law, reflecting “an Ethiopian approach driven by an ideology that seeks to impose water hegemony” instead of equal partnership.

“Egypt firmly rejects Ethiopia’s continued policy of imposing a fait accompli through unilateral actions concerning the Nile River, which is an international shared watercourse,” Egypt’s Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation said in a statement Friday.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, in his address to lawmakers Thursday, said that his country “remains committed to ensuring that our growth does not come at the expense of our Egyptian and Sudanese brothers and sisters.”

“We believe in shared progress, shared energy, and shared water,” he said. “Prosperity for one should mean prosperity for all.”

However, the Egyptian water ministry said Friday that Ethiopian statements calling for continued negotiations “are merely superficial attempts to improve its image on the international stage.”

“Ethiopia’s positions, marked by evasion and retreat while pursuing unilateralism, are in clear contradiction with its declared willingness to negotiate,” the statement read.

However, Egypt is addressing its water needs by expanding agricultural wastewater treatment and improving irrigation systems, according to the ministry, while also bolstering cooperation with Nile Basin countries through backing development and water-related projects.