AU mediates Ethiopia dam talks

The African Union mediated a round of talks Monday between ministers from Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan on Addis Ababa's controversial Nile dam project, an Egyptian ministry said.

The irrigation ministry said another virtual meeting would be held on Thursday following two days of talks between technical and judicial committees.

The US and the EU took part as observers in the latest meeting, at which AU experts submitted a report.

Sudan's Irrigation Minister Yasser Abed, in a statement, said the AU's proposals could lead to an accord "within two weeks", without elaborating.

The main sticking point has been the filling of the dam, the first phase of which Ethiopia said last month that it had completed.

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) has been a source of tension in the Nile River basin ever since Ethiopia broke ground on it in 2011.

Egypt and Sudan view the dam as a threat to vital water supplies, while Ethiopia considers it crucial for its electrification and development.

The two Arab countries have called for a legally binding dispute resolution process, but Ethiopia, in several rounds of AU-led talks, has resisted that.

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'Hundreds' of homes destroyed after Sudan dam collapse
Khartoum (AFP) Aug 1, 2020
Hundreds of homes were destroyed or flooded this week as a dam burst after heavy rain in Sudan's Blue Nile state, a local official said Saturday. The dam collapsed on Thursday in the district of Bout in the southeastern state, "destroying more than 600 homes and flooding others", Nousseiba Farouk told AFP by phone. Residents successfully evacuated their homes, she said. Local media said the dam held five million cubic metres of water, used for both agriculture and drinking. "We don't ... read more