By Khalid Abdelaziz and Aidan Lewis
KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Saturday called for a binding summer agreement on the operation of a giant Ethiopian hydroelectric dam as he makes his first visit to neighboring Sudan since the overthrow of Omar al-Bashir in 2019..
Egypt has also shown support for Sudan in a dispute with Ethiopia over an area on the border between the two countries where there were recent armed skirmishes.
Both Egypt and Sudan lie downstream of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), which according to Addis Ababa is crucial to its economic development.
Ethiopia, which says it has every right to use Nile water long exploited by Egypt, began filling the reservoir behind the dam last summer after Egypt and Sudan could not reach a legally binding agreement on the operation of the dam .
Khartoum fears that the dam, which lies on the Blue Nile near the border with Sudan, could increase the risk of flooding and affect the safe operation of its own Nile dams, while the water-scarce Egypt fears that its supply could hit from the Nile word.
Years of diplomatic talks on the project have repeatedly come to a standstill. The positions of Egypt and Sudan have come closer as Cairo has had a flurry of diplomacy over the issue over the past two years.
This week, Egypt’s chief of staff signed a military cooperation agreement with his Sudanese counterpart during a visit to Sudan.
“We have reaffirmed the need to return to serious and effective negotiations with a view to reaching a fair, balanced and legally binding agreement as soon as possible and before the next flood season,” Sisi said after meeting with Sudanese leaders has.
Sudan recently suggested that the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and the African Union should actively mediate in the dispute, rather than just hold talks, a proposal that supports Egypt.
Ethiopia this week indicated its opposition to the addition of mediators to an existing process by the African Union.
Sisi’s call comes a day after Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry called on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to return to ‘serious’, according to Egyptian Foreign Ministry officials negotiations on the dam.
Sisi also spoke with the head of the Sudanese governing council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, about recent Sudanese steps to extend sovereignty of the state on its eastern borders with Ethiopia, which comes within the context of Sudan’s respect for international agreements’, a statement from Egypt’s presidency said.
Sudan and Ethiopia blamed each other for unrest in the border area of Al-Fashqa, which had long been settled by Ethiopian farmers. Ethiopia rejected Sudan’s claims to control its territorial rights under a border agreement in 1903.
Since Bashir was overthrown after mass protests, a military civilian council has held power in Sudan under a political transition that is expected to last until the end of 2023.
(Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz in Khartoum, Aidan Lewis and Mohamed Waly in Cairo, and Dawit Endeshaw in Addis Ababa; Editing by Helen Popper and Catherine Evans)