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11:44 p. M.
Friday 25 September 2020
Agencies:
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed confirmed that his country “does not intend” to harm Egypt and Sudan through the Renaissance dam project he is building on the Blue Nile.
Abi Ahmed said in a speech during the 75th United Nations celebration on Friday and quoted by “Sky News Arabia”: “I would like to make it clear that we do not intend to harm these two countries.”
Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan have yet to reach an agreement to operate the dam, before Ethiopia begins filling its reservoir in July.
All three countries returned to the mediation led by the African Union.
Earlier this September, the US State Department announced that, based on the directives of President Donald Trump, the United States will suspend some aid to Ethiopia, due to the “lack of progress” in the Addis Ababa talks. with Cairo and Khartoum on the Renaissance Dam.
A spokeswoman for the US State Department told the Associated Press that the decision to “temporarily stop some aid” to a major regional security ally “reflects our concern over Ethiopia’s unilateral decision to begin filling the dam before an agreement is reached and before all security measures are taken for the dam. “
Africa’s largest hydroelectric dam has sparked tensions with Egypt, which has described the threat as existential and concerned about reducing its share of Nile water, while Ethiopia says the $ 4.6 million dam will be the engine of the rebirth of the country and lift millions out of poverty.
