Sudan says Ethiopia used intransigence, procrastination to evade binding GERD deal

CAIRO – 2 July 2021: Sudan’s official spokesperson for the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) negotiations team, Omar Al-Farouq, said Addis Ababa resorted to intransigence, procrastination and introducing unachievable demands that have nothing to do with the rules of filling and operation of GERD.

These demands include the water share issue and aimed to evade a binding agreement on GERD, Farouq said, refuting Ethiopian claims that the downstream countries of Egypt and Sudan have aborted the previous negotiations rounds.

Farouq refuted the “claims” included in the Ethiopian letter to the UNSC on 28 June, saying this letter represents an Ethiopian attempt to evade any commitments toward the filling and operation of the dam.

Farouq also slammed Ethiopia’s reiteration that the GERD issue is included in its sovereign rights, a matter that clearly violates the international law and practices on managing common rivers.

Egypt and Sudan are already in an escalating dispute with Ethiopia, which has reiterated plans to implement the second filling of its massive GERD in July.

Ethiopia’s plans brush aside Egypt and Sudan’s objections and concerns about their water rights in the event of implementing the second filling before a binding agreement is reached among the three countries.

The agreement should regulate the filling and operation processes of the dam in a way that ensures the two countries’ water rights and prevents Ethiopia from unilaterally controlling the water flow to the downstream countries.