- Egypt and Sudan have rejected an offer to share data on waters being held back by an Ethiopian dam constructed on the Nile River.
- There was little progress during meetings among the three countries to resolve the dam controversy this week.
- Egypt has said the Ethiopian dam could reduce the flow of Niles River water, as has Sudan.
CAIRO, Egypt: Egypt and Sudan have refused to discuss an offer by Ethiopia to share data on waters being held back at an Ethiopian dam constructed on the Nile River.
There was little progress among the three countries to resolve the dam issue during negotiations held this week.
Egypt has said the dam could reduce the flow of Nile River water, as has Sudan.
“Ethiopia invites Sudan and Egypt to nominate dam operators for data exchanges before the filling of GERD in the upcoming rainy seasons,” the Ethiopian foreign ministry said on Saturday.
Cairo and Khartoum, however, are demanding a legally binding agreement over the operations of the dam.
“Sudan believes that exchanging information is a necessary procedure, but that the Ethiopian offer to do so in the manner indicated by their letter implies suspicious selectivity in dealing with what has been agreed upon,” the Sudanese irrigation ministry said on Saturday.
After the failure to achieve progress, Ethiopia issued a statement saying it would proceed to fill the dam’s reservoir as scheduled.
Sudan and Egypt had earlier proposed that the European Union, United States and United Nations act as mediators, in addition to ongoing African Union assistance with the talks. However, Ethiopia has rejected the proposal for outside mediation.
