Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Defiant to Int'l Law, Ethiopia's PM: Filling GERD Irreversible


Mon 08 Jun 2020 | 02:32 PM
Yassmine Elsayed

Defiant to international law, and all agreements, this morning, the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, announced that completing the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is underway, and that its filling process is irreversible.

Speaking in some tough statements, the PM said: "We do not want to harm others, and Ethiopia does not want to go into war with Sudan", adding that the two countries have agreed to settle their border disputes.

Earlier, the Sudanese army has announced that the government in Khartoum is making continuous diplomatic communications with Ethiopia over the recent border tensions between both countries,

Commenting on the clashes between the two sides yesterday evening, the Sudanese army spokesman, Brigadier Amer Muhammad Al-Hassan, said: "The contacts between Sudan and Ethiopia to calm the situation on the borders have not stopped."

Al-Hassan added: "We wanted to give diplomacy a chance in Khartoum and Addis Ababa, before the outbreak of an all-out war between the two countries."

He explained that "the recent attacks on Sudanese soil by the Ethiopian army and militia are a violation of previous agreements between the two countries."

Hours later, Sudan was quick to stress its environmental and economic security, and Asma Abdullah, the foreign minister, called on Egypt, to take a strong stance to confront the Ethiopian obstinacy.

The minister did not explain the reasons for the required stance, but she, in an interview with Sudan TV, elaborated on the principles that cannot be negotiated.

Khartoum is concerned about the strength and safety of the dam and its effects on Sudanese water storage capabilities, which are items that must be signed in an agreement that did not take place despite the collapse of nine years of negotiations.

After the message of the Security Council .. Sudan clarified its position on the Renaissance Dam

Khartoum insists on these provisions and prevents Addis Ababa from continuing with any unilateral measures, in a letter sent last week to the Security Council.

As for Egypt, it still sticks to the negotiating methods that it says are the number one option it has and stresses it, at the expense of the options for diplomatic or military escalation. Egypt insists that Ethiopia cannot initiate the filling without consensus, and that it holds strong cards to support its convictions.

Egypt's signature of the World Bank document will guarantee the prevention of international financing for the dam, in accordance with the laws of the World Organization of Transboundary Rivers, which require consensus between countries before building any dam.

In addition to the section on the International Court, which Egypt and Sudan are entitled to, according to international laws, it is entitled, if Ethiopia insists on Twitter, alone.