Egypt, Ethiopia leaders discuss Sudan’s crisis, Nile dam dispute

By Anadolu staff

ISTANBUL (AA) - Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi held talks on Thursday in Cairo with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on the conflict in Sudan and a dam project on the Nile River.

The talks came ahead of a summit of Sudan’s neighboring countries in Cairo on Thursday to discuss means of resolving the Sudanese conflict.

A statement by the Egyptian Presidency said the two leaders discussed ways to settle the crisis in Sudan, enhance bilateral relations between Egypt and Ethiopia, and the issue of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

Egypt views the GERD as an existential threat to its water share from the Nile River, the country’s only source of fresh water, and wants Addis Ababa to reach a binding agreement on the filling and operation of the dam.

Ethiopia sees the dam as crucial for its development process and denies any harm to the water share of Egypt and Sudan, two downstream countries.

Years of negotiations between the two countries have failed to make any breakthrough in reaching an agreement on the filling and operation of the GERD.

Ahmed arrived in Cairo late Wednesday to lead his country’s delegation to the summit of Sudan’s neighbors.

Sudan has been ravaged by clashes between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group since April, in a conflict that killed at least 3,000 civilians and injured thousands, according to local medics.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar