Arab states call for UNSC intervention in Ethiopian dam conflict | Arab League News

Foreign ministers from Arab countries have called for calls from the United Nations Security Council to intervene in the regional conflict over the huge dam built by Ethiopia on the Blue Nile, one of the main tributaries of the Nile River.

The decision, announced by Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit, came at a meeting in Qatar on Tuesday after a meeting called by the Nile countries of Egypt and Sudan.

Ethiopia is setting hopes for economic development and energy generation in the great dam of the Ethiopian Renaissance. But in Egypt, which relies on 90% of its freshwater in the Nile, sees the project as a potential existential threat, and Sudan is concerned about the operation of the Nile dam and water stations.

Aboul Gheit, in a press conference following the 17th meeting of foreign ministers, described the security of Egyptian and Sudanese water as an integral part of Arab national security.

“There is a united Arab position,” Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said in a similar media appearance in Doha, saying officials had agreed on “gradual steps” to help Egypt and Sudan in the conflict.

“We have talked about negotiations on the Ethiopian dam to reach a fair agreement for all concerned parties,” Mohammed Sheikh said, without giving details.

“We also discussed the failure to take unilateral decisions that would harm Member States,” he added, referring to Ethiopia’s plan to complete the second phase of filling the dam during the rainy season.

Sudan and Egypt have already agreed to work together this month to push for the negotiation of an agreement to fill and exploit the Ethiopian dam, following talks blocked by the African Union.

The two countries have previously asked the US, the European Union and the UN to enter into talks with the UA as a mediator, as it is working to reach an agreement. Ethiopia has declined the suggestion.

The main points stuck in past negotiations have been determining a mechanism for future water conflicts and how river waters should be distributed during droughts.

At the meeting, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said: “African mediation in the renaissance dam began about a year ago, but unfortunately it has not yielded the desired results.”

Sudan said on Monday that a provisional partial agreement on the $ 1 million dam was open, with specific conditions.

Support for Palestine

Foreign ministers also decided to form a joint commission to deal with measures against the occupied Palestinians in East Jerusalem in Israel, led by Jordan.

“The most important issue [discussed]in particular, the Palestinian problem and the Israeli occupiers ’attacks in Jerusalem and the war on Gaza,” Mohammed Sheikh said in the wake of Israel’s 11-day military attack on the besieged Gaza Strip last month.

Egypt and Qatar have played an important role in mediating a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the group that governs the enclave.

Mohammed Sheikh expresses special concern over Tuesday’s “so-called”Flag March”, On the anniversary of Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967.

The controversial march, which saw far-right nationalists pass through the Damascus Gate in East Jerusalem, chanting slogans such as “Death to the Arabs,” continues to strain tensions over the forced displacement of Israeli families from the Sheikh neighborhood. Jarrah.

For his part, Aboul Gheit reaffirmed the League of Alava to rebuild the destroyed Gaza Strip for all Egyptian, Arab or international efforts.

The meeting also touched on developments in Libya, Syria and Lebanon, as well as tackling the coronavirus pandemic, the two officials said.

Aboul Gheit noted that so far about 150 million Arabs need to be included for COVID-19.

Tuesday’s meeting was the first meeting of Arab states organized by Qatar to boycott Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt in mid-2017 over allegations of “terrorism” in Qatar, thanks to a charge strongly denied by Doha.

The quartet agreed in January to resume diplomatic relations with Qatar, trade and travel.