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Sudan boycotted talks between Nile Valley countries on Ethiopia’s controversial giant dam on Saturday, calling on the African Union to play a greater role in moving forward the negotiations that have stalled for years.
It was the first time that Sudan had refused to participate in talks with Ethiopia and its northern neighbor, Egypt, which has for years expressed fears that the Ethiopian Grand Renaissance dam on the Blue Nile would dramatically threaten water supplies. downstream.
Sudanese Irrigation Minister Yasser Abbas said in a statement that the current approach to reaching a tripartite agreement on filling and operating the dam in Ethiopia has failed and the AU should do more to “facilitate negotiation. and fill the gab between the three parties. “
The boycott of Sudan, however, could derail the complicated talks, which the AU has already taken the lead in supporting.
On Thursday, the foreign and irrigation ministers of the three Nile Valley countries met online, two weeks after they failed to agree on a new framework for negotiations.
There were no immediate comments from South Africa, leading the African Union, Egypt or Ethiopia to Saturday’s transfer from Sudan. It was not clear when they would restart negotiations.
Africa’s largest hydroelectric dam has caused severe tensions with Egypt, which called it an existential threat and fears it will reduce the country’s share of Nile waters.
Ethiopia says the $ 4.6 billion dam will be a development engine that will lift millions of people out of poverty. Central Sudan worries about the effects on its dams, although it can benefit from access to cheap electricity.
The key questions remain about how much water Ethiopia will release downstream if a multi-year drought occurs and how the three countries will resolve any future disputes. Ethiopia rejected binding arbitration in the final phase of the project.
In addition to tensions with its Nile Valley neighbors, Ethiopia was plunged into a deadly internal conflict earlier this month when its federal government launched a military strike against the administration of the northern Tigray region.
The conflict threatens to involve Ethiopia’s neighbors, including Sudan, Somalia and Eritrea, whose capital was attacked by missiles from Tigray forces over the weekend. The fighting sent over 35,500 Ethiopian refugees to Sudan.
Ethiopia rejected a draft agreement created by the United States on its dam in February and continued with the first phase of filling the dam’s huge reservoir, leading Washington to suspend millions of dollars in aid to Addis Ababa.
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