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Sudan’s Minister of Culture and Information, Faisal Mohamed Saleh, renewed his country’s stance on Ethiopia’s recent maneuvers, adding that Khartoum will never accept a fait accompli policy regarding the Ethiopian dam.
Saleh’s comments came in press statements on Saturday that also quoted him as saying that Sudan has many options in terms of its response to Ethiopia’s fait accompli policy.
The Sudanese official described the African mediation on the issue of the filling and operation of the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) as “useless.” He also said that his country does not seek escalation, but that negotiation is the only way to solve the problem of GERD.
“Sudan is affected by the Ethiopian dam and there must be an agreement to protect it,” Saleh said.
His comments come just a week after statements made by the official spokesman for the Sudan Sovereignty Council, Mohamed Al-Faki Suleiman. In his remarks, Suleiman noted that Sudan will not allow Ethiopia to impose a fait accompli policy regarding the GERD points in dispute.
The Spokesperson also said that Addis Ababa had carried out the first filling without consulting the countries downstream of Ethiopia, namely Egypt and Sudan. He added that Ethiopia is also heading for the second filling without reaching an agreement between these three countries, who are also involved in the GERD negotiations.
According to Sudanese officials, the Ethiopian dam poses a threat to the Sudanese Rosieres dam.
“Our position is that this matter will not be repeated, because the policy of imposing a fait accompli will not proceed and we will not allow it,” Suleiman added.
In early January, the parties involved in the Ethiopia dam issue failed to reach consensus on the disputed points in their online meeting.
Sudan insisted on the need to entrust experts appointed by the African Union (AU) to propose solutions to controversial issues and draw up the GERD agreement. Both Egypt and Ethiopia rejected the Sudanese proposal.
Meanwhile, Ethiopia and Sudan are involved in a border dispute, and Khartoum has accused Addis Ababa of violating Sudanese sovereignty and borders.
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