Seven years of talks between Egypt and Ethiopia in
Sudan over a massive dam construction on the Nile river have reached a deadlock
with Cairo appealing to the international community to intervene.
Ethiopia began constructing the Grand Renaissance
dam on the Blue Nile in 2012 saying the construction was vital for providing
electricity.
However, Egypt says the construction will severely
reduce its water supplies and claims to have “historic rights” to the river
guaranteed by decades-old treaties, the East African reported.
Following the end of another round of talks on the
matter in Khartoum over the weekend Cairo called for an international party to
mediate between the three countries after asserting in a statement that Addis
Ababa had rejected all proposals taking Egypt’s water interests into account
and that Ethiopia’s proposals lacked guarantees.
Ethiopia, however, has dismissed Cairo’s assessment
of the latest negotiations.
“The allegation that talks ended in a deadlock is completely false,” Ethiopian Minister for Water and Energy Selishi Bekele told reporters on Saturday. He added that some progress had been made before adding that there were still outstanding issues. http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/egypt-urges-international-mediation-over-nile-river-deadlock-2019-10-07
