A general view of Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance Dam is seen during a media tour along the river Nile in Benishangul Gumuz Region, Guba Woreda, in Ethiopia March 31, 2015 - AFP.
CAIRO – 6 October 2019: Egypt has asked for an international mediator in the tripartite negotiations between Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), said spokesperson of the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohamed Al-Sebai in a statement on Saturday evening.
Egypt’s request came in consistency with Article No. 10 of the 2015 Declaration of Principles that was signed by the three countries, he added.
Sebai said that the negotiations of the Renaissance Dam have reached a dead end due to the hardening of the Ethiopian side and its rejection of all theses that take into account Egypt's water interests and avoid causing serious harm to Egypt.
During a round of negotiations in Khartoum at the level of the independent scientific research group, as well as during the ministerial meeting that followed from 30 September to 5 October 2019, Ethiopia presented a new proposal, which is a reaction to all the previously agreed upon, he said in the press release.
The spokesman added that this Ethiopian position has brought the negotiations to a standstill, especially after Addis Ababa rejected the Egyptian proposal that presented an integrated proposal for the rules of filling and operating the Renaissance Dam, which is fair and balanced and takes into account the interests of the three countries.
President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on Saturday affirmed Egypt’s water rights in the River Nile as Renaissance Dam negotiations reached a dead end as a result of the Ethiopian side's rejection to all proposals that take into account Egypt's water rights and interests.
“I have followed closely on the results of the tripartite meeting between irrigation ministers of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia to discuss the file of the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which has not resulted in any positive development,” President Sisi said on his official Facebook page.
Egypt welcomed the statement issued by the White House regarding the ongoing negotiations on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), Presidency Spokesman Bassam Rady said on Saturday October 5th.
The US called on Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia to reach an agreement that realize the mutual interests of all of the countries involved in the situation, according to a statement issued by the State Information Service.
The US asserted the importance of an agreement that highlights the economic development and prosperity of all the parts depending on the Nile.
The SIS called on the US to play a bigger role in this regard as the dam’s filling negotiations have reached a deadlock in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum on Saturday.
Samar Samir
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