Sudan's Burhan Meets Ethiopia's Ahmed for Talks

Head of the Sudanese Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan met on Monday with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in an official visit to the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.

Burhan, during his two-day visit, will hold talks with Ahmed in light of the Egyptian-Sudanese-Ethiopian negotiations on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

The official visit was a courtesy response to an invitation from the Ethiopian premier to discuss issues of common interests between the two countries, according to a statement released by the Sovereign Council on Sunday.

It is worth mentioning that Burhan visited Cairo the last week, where he met with President Abdel Fattah El Sisi.

Meanwhile, Ethiopian Ambassador in Cairo Markos Tekle pointed out that his country does not want a mediator in the GERD negotiations.

In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, Tekle said: "We still believe in the negotiation, and we adhere to our consistent position in this regard,” he said, adding that Ethiopia insisted to move on with the talks without a direct mediator."

On Sunday, the irrigation ministers of three countries convened to discuss how to revive the stalled talks on GERD.

Technical and legal delegations from the three countries attended the meeting, held within the framework of the outcome of a previous meeting, along with representatives of the African Union Bureau, the European Union and the United States as observers.