Sudan requested the United Nations to replace Ethiopian peacekeeping in Abyei with another force from different countries, Foreign Minister Mariam al-Mahdi said on Tuesday.
Mahdi made the statement during an interview with the pan-Arab Al-Hadath news channel following the latest round of talks with Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in Kinshasa that ended with no progress.
The minister claimed that Ethiopia showed “unacceptable intransigence” in the talks over the GERD. Its decision to proceed with the second phase of the filling of its reservoir is contrary to international law, she said.
“It is not conceivable to accept Ethiopian forces deployed in the strategic depth of Sudan while the Ethiopian troops are massing on the eastern border of Sudan,” Mahdi said.
Sudan will be reviewing its relations and cooperation agreements with Ethiopia, the minister said, but stressed that Ethiopian immigrants and refugees would not be affected.
MG/abj/APA