Ethiopia Urges AU to Oversee Renaissance Dam Negotiations

The Ethiopian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Ambassador Dina Mufti, said on Tuesday that his country urged the African Union (AU) to supervise negotiations on the Renaissance Dam over the next period.

Mufti added that Sahlurk Zodi,  Ethiopia's president, paid an official visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo after assuming the presidency of the African Union.

According to the spokesman, President Sahlurk recommended the Democratic Republic of the Congo to continue the trilateral negotiations (that comprise Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia) under the auspices of the African Union.

Mufti also expressed his gratitude to South Africa for the "correct" handling of the negotiations.

"With regard to humanitarian aid in the Tigray region, it is continuing," he added.

He emphasized that a workshop had been held focusing on the border dispute between Ethiopia and Sudan and that Ethiopia insists on the need to resolve the issue peacefully.

On the other hand, Sudan's  Defense Minister, Yassin Ibrahim, said days ago, that the recent Ethiopian attacks on the Sudanese army had displaced the residents of 30 villages from the Al-Fashaqa area, stressing that there must be a link between the Renaissance Dam negotiations and what is happening on the border with Ethiopia.

Ibrahim added in statements to the "Al Arabiya" channel: "There is no border dispute with Ethiopia until we negotiate it, and the Ethiopian army is fighting in the border areas, not the militias."

Ibrahim said that the Sudanese-Ethiopian borders are clear and stipulated in international agreements. Ethiopia must stop launching attacks on desperate civilians.

Ibrahim added that the army imposed its control over Sudanese areas on the border with Ethiopia," pointing out that Ethiopia is stalling on the issues of the Renaissance Dam and the borders, and that it attacks civilians to expel them from the villages of Al-Fashaqa.

The eastern Sudanese borders witness escalating tensions as some Ethiopian tribes used to sneak to the Sudanese territories to exploit pastures and agrarian lands there.