Sudan's Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok on Tuesday said he refused to sign a "partial agreement" for the dam's filling due to the absence of coordinated planning and outstanding "technical and legal issues" dealing with the dam's "environmental and social impacts".
Sudan was pushing Ethiopia to resume US-brokered negotiations over its disputed $4.6 billion dam on the Nile. The dam was supposed to be filled by Ethiopia during July and PM Hamdok had stressed the need to reach an agreement regarding the same between Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia.
Sudan and Egypt fear that filling of the dam in the Nile by Ethiopia will trap their essential water supplies. Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had urged Hamdok to sign the agreement.
Hamed Saleh, Sudan’s representatives in the talks between the three nations mediated by the US said, "Most of the issues at play ... cannot be separated ... including long-term environmental and social impacts."
The Ethiopian prime minister’s warnings of possible military action last year, have turned the dam into an explosive issue.
Negotiations regarding the dam that had been deadlocked for years, got a jumpstart again after the US and World Bank interfered.
ALSO READ
- UN rights commission accuses South Sudan of violations ahead of elections
- Sudan's military leader warns the war in his country could spread beyond its borders
- Sudan conflict: Charity finds about 500 children have died from hunger since April
- Mass grave with at least 87 bodies found in West Darfur, United Nations says
Hamdok insisted that talks with Sudan, Ethiopia should resume immediately, so that a solution is agreed upon.
Ethiopia skipping out on the last round of negotiations even as Egypt inked a draft agreement caused further tension. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cautioned that months of hard work remain. Last week Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry sent a letter to the United Nations Security Council about the dam and brought to the body’s attention to Ethiopia's unilateral moves.
While Ethiopia relies on the Grand Renaissance dam for its electricity supply, Egypt fears the dam will affect its source of freshwater, which is already under strain due to climate change and increase in population.
Main tributaries of the Nile converge at Sudan’s capital Khartoum, before flowing through Egypt into the Mediterranean sea.
