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Egypt appeals for end to GERD dispute at UN

EGYPT EGYPTIAN President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi has He stressed that the US and World Bank had
appealed to the international community to managed to bring the parties closer together this
bring an end to the dispute over the Grand Ethi- year, although there is still no final agreement.
opian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in Ethiopia. “Over several months, we also sincerely
He told the UN General Assembly that reach- engaged in the discussions that took place at the
ing an agreement with Sudan and Ethiopia over initiative of the Prime Minister of Sudan, Abdul-
construction of the 6,400-MW dam and the flow lah Hamdouk, and after that in the negotiation
of the River Nile was vital for the maintenance rounds that were initiated by South Africa, the
of international peace and security in the region. current chair of the African Union, but unfor-
Al-Sisi said that the repeatedly delayed nego- tunately these efforts did not lead to the desired
tiations should not continue forever. He said his results,” he added.
government now had “heightened concern” over The outcome of the latest Ethiopian dam
the project in Ethiopia, which could limit water negotiations on 28 August reflected deep divi-
flows downstream in Sudan and Egypt. sions between the three countries involved.
Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia have so far failed Addis Ababa holds that it had the unilateral
to resolve the dispute, despite almost a decade of right to fill the dam and operate it in the coming
negotiations and interventions from the interna- year in order to drive economic development at
tional community. home and to enable power exports to neighbour-
Al-Sisi said that talks must not be delayed ing countries.
indefinitely, and called on the international com- Talks are now currently on hold after break-
munity to broker a new agreement. ing up on August 28.
The most recent talks began on 27 July, with In New Yorik, Al-Sisi outlined Egypt’s posi-
observers from the African Union (AU) and rep- tion that the River Nile was not the monopoly of
resentatives from the US and the EU. a single party, and for Egypt, the river’s waters are
Talks have broken down over reaching a new a necessity for survival, without detracting the
legally binding agreement between the three rights of other countries. Cairo holds that Ethi-
countries that would govern how the dam would opia’s actions are unilateral and do not fulfil the
be filled and operated. needs or rights of other countries bordering the
“We have spent nearly a decade in painstak- Nile, which have been set out in various interna-
ing negotiations with our brothers in Sudan and tional treaties over the decades.
Ethiopia, seeking to reach an agreement that reg- This is the second time that Egypt has raised
ulates the filling and operation of the dam, and the matter at the UN this year. In June, Egypt
which achieves the required balance between raised the issue with the Security Council, stress-
the development requirements of the Ethiopian ing the dispute was directly related to the mainte-
people and saving Egypt’s water interests and nance of international peace and security.™
ensuring its right to life,” Al-Sisi said.

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