The African Union (AU) led negotiation between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan over the massive hydro power dam on River Nile has been suspended due to Egypt’s rejection of AU’s mediation, spokesperson of Ethiopia’s foreign affairs has said.
During this round, via videoconference under the auspice of the African Union’s current president, South Africa, Sudan adhered to its position of refusing to return to negotiations according to the previous methodology, which did not make any progress, and in return it put forward a detailed proposal on giving a greater role to experts and consultants from the African Union (AU) to bridge the views between the parties and suggest solutions.
Ethiopia expressed its agreement to maximize the role of AU experts and presented a vision similar to that of Sudan, but Egypt objected to this proposal and made proposals revolving around continuing negotiations through previous methods, Spokesperson Ambassador Dina Mufti on Friday in a briefing.
In the virtual meeting held this week, the three countries-Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt-discussed ways to enhance the role of the AU experts in the tripartite talks, he said.
During the discussion, both Ethiopia and Sudan backed the proposal tabled to increase the role of the experts, but Egypt refused to accept it, the Spokesperson said.
According to Ambassador Dina, the three countries reported results of the meeting to the current Chairperson of the African Union (AU).
The Spokesperson said the on-going tripartite negotiation on the GERD would not change Ethiopia’s firm stance on fair utilization of River Nile.
MG/abj/APA