The Arab League announced the holding of an emergency meeting of foreign ministers on Tuesday in Doha; To discuss the crisis of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. The official Egyptian news agency quoted the League’s Assistant Secretary-General, Hossam Zaki, as saying that “an emergency meeting of Arab foreign ministers will be held on Tuesday in Doha at the request of Egypt and Sudan.”
Zaki indicated that the emergency meeting “will be on the sidelines of a consultative meeting that was scheduled to be held in Doha at the level of foreign ministers on Tuesday (he did not clarify its agenda).” He explained that “the emergency meeting will discuss developments in the Renaissance Dam,” without further details.
On Wednesday, Sudan and Egypt stressed, in a joint statement, the importance of coordinating their efforts internationally and regionally to push Ethiopia to “negotiate seriously” over the Renaissance Dam, which has been stalled for months.
In return, Ethiopia holds the two countries responsible for “obstructing the negotiations.”
Addis Ababa insists on a second filling of the dam with water, believed to be in the coming July and August, about a year after the first filling, even if it did not reach an agreement. While Cairo and Khartoum insist on first reaching a tripartite agreement, to preserve their water facilities, and to ensure the continued flow of their annual share of the Nile waters.
The Arab League: an emergency ministerial in Doha on Tuesday
