Sudan seeks int'l mediation on Ethiopian dam issue

KHARTOUM

Sudan announced Monday that it had sent official letters to the African Union, UN, European Union and US on forming a quadripartite mechanism to mediate in negotiations on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

The Sudanese Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok sent the letters on March 13, in which he sought "to change the approach used in the negotiations, which led to the failure to reach an agreement between the three parties [Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt], and to establish an approach based on the presence of the main international partners through the quadripartite mechanism."

The move aims "to strengthen the role of the African Union in the negotiations" and the quadripartite mechanism would "provide significant international and regional support and constitute the required guarantee to build confidence [in the negotiations]."

The ministry stressed that Khartoum is concerned about Addis Ababa's statements that it intends to implement the second stage of filling the dam in July without a binding agreement that guarantees the exchange of information and guarantees of operation and environmental and social management.

The ministry warned that any unilateral measure of the filling would harm Sudan and threaten its national security.

On March 9, Ethiopia rejected a Sudanese proposal supported by Egypt to form a quadripartite international mediation mechanism to resolve the dam negotiations, which have failed to make significant progress for 10 years.

*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat