Sudan’s Minister of Culture and Information Faisal Mohamed Saleh renewed his country’s stance regarding recent Ethiopian manoeuvres, adding that Khartoum will never accept a fait accompli policy regarding the Ethiopian dam.
Saleh’s remarks came in press statements, on Saturday, which also quoted him as saying that Sudan has many options in terms of its response to the Ethiopian fait accompli policy.
The Sudanese official described the African mediation in the issue of the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) as “useless”. He also said that his country does not seek escalation, and instead that negotiation is the only way for solving the GERD issue.
“Sudan is affected by the Ethiopian Dam, and there must be an agreement to protect it,” Saleh said.
His remarks come just a week after statements made by the official Spokesperson for the Sovereignty Council of Sudan, Mohamed Al-Faki Suleiman. In his statements, Suleiman noted that Sudan will not allow Ethiopia to impose a fait accompli policy regarding the GERD’s disputed points.
The Spokesperson also said that Addis Ababa had carried out the first filling without consulting those countries which lie downstream of Ethiopia, namely Egypt and Sudan. He added that Ethiopia is also heading to the second filling without reaching an agreement between these three countries, who are also involved in GERD negotiations.
According to Sudanese officials, the Ethiopian dam poses a threat to the Sudanese Rosieres dam.
“Our position is that this matter will not be repeated again, because the policy of imposing a fait accompli will not proceed and we will not allow it out,” added Suleiman.
Earlier in January, the parties involved in the Ethiopian dam issue failed to reach consensus on the disputed points in their online meeting.
Sudan insisted on the need for mandating experts designated by the African Union (AU) to propose solutions to the contentious issues and to elaborate the GERD agreement. Both Egypt and Ethiopia rejected the Sudanese proposal.
Meanwhile, both Ethiopia and Sudan are engaged in a border dispute, with Khartoum accusing Addis Ababa of violating Sudanese sovereignty and borders.
