Sudan Calls for Greater Role by AU over GERD Issue

The Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources in Sudan, Yasser Abbas, renewed, on Monday, underscored the importance of reaching an agreement on the issue of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

Speaking during a meeting with the head of the European Union mission in Khartoum, Abbas  called for a greater role for the African Union in the negotiations.

The African Union sponsors the current negotiations on the dam between Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt, but they are stalled.

In the meeting also the Sudanese minister discussed how to move the negotiation file to reach an acceptable peaceful solution for the three countries (Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan), according to what was reported by Sudan News Agency.

He also said: "The safety of half of Sudan's population depends on a secure agreement to fill the Renaissance Dam."

Earlier on January 10, the Sudanese News Agency reported that a six-party meeting between the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Irrigation in Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia failed to reach an acceptable formula to continue negotiations.

The next day, Sudanese Foreign Minister-designate Omar Qamar al-Din announced that his country had submitted conditions to the African Union in order to return to "meaningful" negotiations in the dam file, hinting that Khartoum had other "options".

For nine years, the three countries have been engaged in stalled negotiations over the dam, and Addis Ababa has insisted on filling the dam with water even if it did not reach an agreement on it with Cairo and Khartoum, while the latter two insist on the need to first reach a tripartite agreement, to ensure that they are not negatively affected, especially in terms of their share of the Nile water.