CAIRO -- Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia failed to make progress in the latest round of African Union-led talks to resolve their years-long dispute over a controversial dam that Ethiopia is building on the Blue Nile River. The dispute is over the dam Ethiopia has constructed on the Blue Nile, the largest tributary to … The fruitless negotiations came as Cairo sent air forces to North Sudan for joint combat exercises with Khartoum’s military. Dubbed Nile Eagles 2, the exercise focused on the two countries’ abilities to “face joint challenges in order to secure the borders and protect resources,” said Farid, in an apparent reference to the dispute over the Nile dam, which Egypt fears will severely restrict its access to fresh water for its nearly 100 million people. Ethiopia and Egypt have both sought the most favourable dynamics for talks over the dam. Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly (L) welcomes his Sudanese counterpart Abdalla Hamdok upon his arrival in Cairo, Egypt, March 11, 2021. There is no guarantee such a strike would even succeed at hitting the dam, said Nagy, who also served as US ambassador to Addis Ababa during the war with Eritrea. Environment. According to the scholar, Ethiopia has strongly declined to sign any final agreement focusing on how to handle and run the Renaissance Dam, … Egypt and Sudan argue that Ethiopia’s plan to add 13.5 billion cubic meters of water in 2021 to the dam’s reservoir on the Blue Nile is a threat to them. Ethiopia insists on operating the dam to generate electricity and achieve a development renaissance in the country, while the two downstream countries - Egypt and Sudan - see the dam as a threat to their water security, and they demand a settlement that guarantees the rights of all parties. Despite the severity of the threat posed by the GERD, a conventional strike would be out of character for Cairo’s foreign policy, at least until all other options are exhausted, she said. The latest setback makes Ethiopia’s vow to fill the dam’s reservoir for a second time before July all the more likely to be fulfilled despite the renewed warnings from Egyptian officials, who blamed Addis Ababa last week for rejecting a Sudanese proposal to bring in foreign mediation. On Sunday, Shukry called the Kinshasa meetings “the latest opportunity” the three nations should seize to reach a legally binding deal before Ethiopia embarks on a second crucial stage of the reservoir filling later this year. https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/11/africa/ethiopia-dam-talks-impasse-intl Ahmed Hafez, spokesman of Egypt’s Foreign Ministry, said Addis Ababa rejected expanding the mediation umbrella to include the United States, the European Union, and the United Nations along with the AU. Foreign and irrigation ministers of the three nations met in Kinshasa, the capital of Congo, the current chair of the African Union. That makes it anathema, but it remains a last resort.". The yearslong dispute over the giant dam being built by Ethiopia on the Nile's main tributary centers on the speed at which a planned reservoir is filled behind the dam. The 6,450-megawatt hydroelectric power project was to have been inaugurated in 2018 but was delayed due to budgetary constraints and mismanagement. Although the chief of staff of Sudan’s armed forces, Gen. Mohamed Osman al-Hussein, said the exercise was “not targeting a certain country,” Egyptian officials’ statements have been more ominous. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. “This is a very grave development,” he said. The Congolese government, the talks' host, also released a communique saying no breakthrough was made. However, the four days of meetings concluded without a breakthrough after Ethiopia rejected a Sudanese proposal, backed by Egypt, to include international mediators in the talks, Egypt and Sudan said. Last week, the deputy head of Egypt’s military intelligence, Maj. Gen. Sameh Saber El-Degwi, signed an intelligence sharing agreement with Uganda, referencing the countries’ shared reliance on Nile water in a public statement. Ethiopia, an upstream Nile basin country, unilaterally carried out the first phase of filling the dam in July 2020 and is planning to go ahead with the second phase in July this year in spite of the concerns of Egypt and Sudan, which have repeatedly called for a prior tripartite binding agreement on the rules of filling and operating the controversial dam. CAIRO -- Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia failed to make progress in the latest round of African Union-led talks to resolve their years-long dispute over a controversial dam that Ethiopia is building on the Blue Nile River. Under fire amid allegations of war crimes in the Tigray region, Abiy’s government has staked much of its political future on the widely popular dam project. Ethiopia's foreign minister, Demeke Mekonnen, in a brief statement posted on Facebook said his country appreciates the AU's efforts to resume the AU-led process “to reach a win-win outcome and invites Egypt and Sudan to follow suit.”, The foreign ministry in a separate statement asserted that “Ethiopia cannot enter into an agreement that would foreclose its current and future legitimate rights over the utilization of the Nile.”. Cairo also requested advanced over-the-horizon targeting systems as part of an order for additional F-16s from Washington during the Trump administration, according to a former US official familiar with the matter. The fruitless negotiations came as Cairo sent air forces to North Sudan for joint combat exercises with Khartoum’s military. Egypt's top diplomat said they would again take the dispute to the U.N. Security Council. “The international community should assume its responsibility to avoid slipping into situations that lead to tension and further destabilization in East Africa and the Horn of Africa.”. At least as far back as the presidency of Hosni Mubarak, Cairo has considered extending its strike range against the dam with basing access in Sudan. Egypt and Sudan are demanding Ethiopia commit to a legally binding agreement on the dam’s use, but Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government has so far refused, offering the possibility of guidelines instead. That round of talks sought to find an agreed-on approach to resume negotiations on the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopia Renaissance Dam. US officials are skeptical of Cairo warnings to Ethiopia, even as Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's government expands defense ties in East Africa. Neither Addis nor Khartoum wants the Al-Fashqah triangle situation to get out of hand,” Nagy told Al-Monitor. March 22 is World Water Day, a United Nations holiday that aims to spark discussion on the importance of freshwater and the sustainability of freshwater resources. For decades the United States refused to sell Cairo the F-15 fighter aircraft, instead sending the lighter, shorter-range and more maneuverable F-16, despite providing the F-15 to Saudi Arabia and Israel. Egyptian officials have also reportedly discussed establishing an air base in Somaliland. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi said in televised comments that “all options are open” should Egypt’s share be “touched.” “I can’t see them holding any kind of serious negotiations until after the election and until a second filling [of the dam's reservoir],” said Nagy. Egypt is hinting once again at the possibility of conflict with Ethiopia amid the failure of the latest round of talks over the controversial Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) last week. “The main sticking points can be done away with as long as the main participants have the political space to have some flexibility,” he said. Egypt and Ethiopia are presently at odds, jeopardizing the good each country can otherwise do. Egypt on April 13 sent a letter to the United Nations Security Council, calling on the international community to engage in advancing the stalled GERD talks and persuade Ethiopia to refrain from unilateral acts. 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