Meeting to continue on Tuesday to draft framework for upcoming GERD talks: SUNA
Ahram Online , Monday 2 Nov 2020
The representatives of the three countries discussed the framework for the negotiations and the role that would be played by the observers, according to SUNA, which added that the representatives agreed on some points.


Legal and technical representatives from Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia agreed on Monday to continue their meetings on Tuesday, and till Wednesday if necessary, in order to present a final report to the ministerial committee on Thursday regarding the planned talks over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), the Sudanese News Agency (SUNA) reported.

The representatives of the three countries discussed the framework for the negotiations and the role that would be played by the observers, according to SUNA, which added that the representatives agreed on some points.

Negotiations between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan on the filling and operation of the GERD resumed on Sunday, days after Khartoum called for a new one-week round of talks aimed at reviving the stalled negotiations.

During Sunday's meeting,Egypt stressed the importance of implementing previous African Union (AU) resolutions on reaching a binding legal accord over the filling and operation of the dam.

Negotiations broke down in late August, with the three countries failing to reach a consensus on the legal and technical points of contention after Ethiopia proposed a package of non-binding guidelines for the filling and operation of the mega-dam.

The resumption of negotiations last week came days after US President Donald Trump laid the blame squarely on Ethiopia for the failure of the negotiations and said that Cairo's concerns in the dispute are legitimate.

Cairo fears the massive hydropower project will significantly reduce its crucial water supplies from the River Nile, while Sudan fears it could endanger the safety of its own dams especially that it is built 15 kilometres from the Ethiopian border.

The first filling of the controversial dam took place this summer, despite Ethiopia not having reached a binding agreement with its downstream neighbours.

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