CAIRO - 4 November 2019: Egypt President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Monday that he was confident the US mediation meeting between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan on Wednesday, 6 November, in Washington would break the stalemate in the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) negotiations.
“I express my personal gratitude and Egypt’s appreciation to Trump on the efforts exerted to sponsor tripartite talks between Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia in Washington,” Sisi said on his official Facebook account following a phone call with US President Donald Trump.
“As usual, President Donald Trump proved he is a man of a unique type who has the power to face and deal with crises and finds decisive solutions for them. I renew both my personal gratitude and Egypt’s appreciation for the efforts he exerts to have the tripartite negotiations between Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia on GERD held under his auspices, I assert my full trust in this mediation that could realize a consensual resolution that considers the rights of all parts involved as per the principles of the International law and human Justice,” read the post on President Sisi’s official Facebook page.
Sisi and Trump discussed over the phone a host of issues of mutual concern. Egypt president described Trump as a “unique man with power to face crises.”
Egypt and Ethiopia have accepted a US invitation to discuss breaking the deadlock in negotiations over the GERD, which has been a source of a deepening spat between Cairo and Addis Ababa, according to Ahram Online.
The talks, which will be convened by US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, will also be attended by World Bank officials.
According to a statement by the Egyptian Presidency, Trump stressed his keenness on the success of the negotiations.
He is set to receive the foreign ministers of Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan in the Oval Office at the beginning of talks under his keenness for a positive and fair outcome which preserves the rights of all involved parties, the statement added
Tensions have mounted in recent weeks over the $4 billion mega project on the Blue Nile after Cairo and Addis Ababa failed to reach an agreement on how to fill the dam's reservoir.
Egypt fears the project, which is at the heart of Ethiopia's plans to become a regional power hub, would diminish its water supplies from the Nile, on which it relies for almost all its fresh water.
Ethiopia maintains, however, that the 6,000-megawatt hydroelectric dam, which is nearly 70 percent complete, will not restrict the river’s flow.
Tue, Nov. 5, 2019
