Khartoum (UNA-OIC) – Sudan is looking forward to reaching a legally binding agreement on filling and operating the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) before the second filling of the reservoir, Sudanese Foreign Minister Dr. Mariam Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi said.
She revealed that Sudan’s vision has received wide national consensus among components of the transitional government and Sudanese people, as well as a regional and international understanding of the country’s reasonable and objective vision.
This came during the Forum of the American University in Cairo Alumni Club – Jordan, which hosted the Sudanese foreign minister visually Saturday.
Ms. Al-Mahdi said Sudan is ready for negotiation to resolve the GERD issue by peaceful means and under the auspices of the African Union. She also affirmed that her country welcomes the role of international partners, guarantors and facilitators, indicating the possibility of making use of international and African experiences in dealing with the transnational rivers.
The minister stated that the United States has played an important mediation role that solved the technical and legal matters of the dam. She added that Washington GERD talks made great progress, with few points relating to the filling and operating of the dam remained unresolved, pointing out that it was a surprise that Ethiopia backtracked on what had been agreed upon.
The Sudanese diplomat noted the expected huge role that can be played by the U.S. through exerting political and diplomatic pressure on Ethiopia to reach the desired agreement. At the same time, she said that Sudan has favorably responded to the African Union initiative in confirmation of the government’s seriousness to find African solutions to African problems.
