The head of Egypt's General Intelligence Service Abbas Kamel met with the head of Sudan's sovereign council Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan in Khartoum on Tuesday, conveying a verbal message from Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi on the ways to support and develop bilateral relations and enhance joint interests, according to Sudanese state news agency SUNA.

Kamel briefed Al-Burhan on the outcomes of his meeting with the vice president of Sudan’s sovereign council Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo and with Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok regarding the developments in the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and efforts exerted to overcome the differences between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia over the project in the spirit of dialogue.

The Egyptian official said the meeting emphasised the significance of the joint cooperation between the two countries in various security and economic fields.

In addition, Sudan’s newly formed GERD committee convened for the first time on Tuesday to review the country's negotiation position throughout all previous stages of negotiation on the mega-dam, SUNA reported.

The meeting touched on Ethiopia's initial action in filling the mega-dam and its impact on Khartoum, as well as the path of negotiations in the future.

The committee reiterated Sudan's stress on the importance of reaching a fair, binding agreement on the GERD for all parties.

Addis Ababa surprised Cairo and Khartoum by announcing last week that its first-year target for filling the dam's reservoir had been achieved.

A few days before Addis Ababa made its announcement, the Sudanese authorities had recorded a decline in water levels on the Blue Nile coming from Ethiopia.

Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia have agreed to postpone the second meeting in the ongoing AU talks until 3 August for further internal consultations, after Cairo and Khartoum expressed their concerns over the Ethiopian action.

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