Ethiotime1
Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Abul-Gheit
The Nile Basin’s downstream countries and the international community cannot accept Ethiopia imposing its will in defiance of international law and rules governing the use of international rivers, Abul-Gheit added.
The issue that should be addressed is the importance of Ethiopia’s respect for international law, Abul-Gheit said in an interview with Al Arabiya Al Hadath news channel.
In the absence of the binding agreement, Addis Ababa has unilaterally completed three fillings of the 74 billion cubic metre reservoir in recent years, with the most latest finishing in August. It has also started unilaterally operating two of the dam’s electric power turbines.
Egypt and Sudan have reiterated their rejection of the unilateral Ethiopian acts regarding the $4.2 billion GERD.
The two downstream countries have repeatedly affirmed their support for Ethiopia’s right to development, but called on Addis Ababa to sign a binding agreement on the filling and operation of the dam that would secure their water rights and their peoples’ interests.
Egypt and Sudan have been negotiating with Ethiopia for almost a decade now to reach a legally binding and comprehensive agreement on the filling and operation of the GERD, which Addis Ababa started building on the Blue Nile in 2010.
Cairo and Khartoum have blamed the failure of the talks on Ethiopian “intransigence” and refusal to sign any legally binding deal.
The latest round of African Union (AU)-sponsored talks between the three countries over the GERD in Kinshasa, DRC collapsed in April 2021, and all attempts to revive the negotiations since have failed.
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