CAIRO: Sudan and Egypt renewed calls Wednesday for the international community to help in resolving their decade-long dispute with Ethiopia over a giant dam that Addis Ababa is building on the Blue Nile, the main tributary of the Nile River.
Egyptian foreign and irrigation ministers flew to Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, for talks with Sudanese counterparts focusing on Ethiopia’s dam project.
Tensions have mounted since the African Union-mediated talks between the three nations stalled in April.
In a joint statement after the meetings Wednesday, Egypt and Sudan warned of “serious risks and grave consequences of the unilateral filling” of the dam’s massive reservoir. They fear Ethiopia will reduce their share of the Nile River water.
Cairo and Khartoum want an international agreement to govern how much water Ethiopia releases downstream, especially in a multi-year drought. Sudan and Egypt argue that Ethiopia’s plan to add 13.5 billion cubic meters of water in 2021 to the dam’s reservoir is a threat to them.
They have repeatedly called for the US, UN, and the European Union to help reach a legally binding deal.
There was no immediate comment from Ethiopia. Addis Ababa says the $5 billion dam is essential, arguing the vast majority of its population lacks electricity.
The Blue Nile meets with the White Nile in the Sudanese capital. From Khartoum, it winds northward through Egypt and flows into the Mediterranean Sea.
Sudan, Egypt renew calls for international role in Ethiopia dispute
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Sudan, Egypt renew calls for international role in Ethiopia dispute
- Egyptian foreign and irrigation ministers flew to Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, for talks with Sudanese counterparts focusing on Ethiopia’s dam project
- Tensions have mounted since the African Union-mediated talks between the three nations stalled in April
5 bodies of migrants washed ashore in east of Libya’s capital Tripoli, police officer says
TRIPOLI: At least five bodies of migrants including two women have been washed ashore in َQasr Al-Akhyar, a coastal town in the east of Libya’s capital Tripoli, a police officer told Reuters on Saturday.
Hassan Al-Ghawil, head of investigations at the Qasr Al-Akhyar police station, said that according to people in the area, a child’s body washed ashore and because of the waves’ height the body returned to the sea, and the coast guard was asked to search for it.
Ghawil said the bodies are all dark-skinned people. The bodies were found on Emhamid Al-Sharif shore in the western part of the town by people who reported to the police station.
Libya has become a transit route for migrants fleeing conflict and poverty to Europe across the Mediterranean since the fall in 2011 of dictator Muammar Qaddafi to a NATO-backed uprising. Factional conflict has split the country into western and eastern factions since 2014.
Qasr Al-Akhyar is a coastal town some 73 kilometers (45 miles) east of Tripoli.
Pictures were posted on the Internet, and also seen by Reuters, showing the bodies of the migrants lying on the shore, where some were still within black inflatable lifebuoys.
“We reported to the Red Crescent to recover the bodies,” said Ghawil. “The bodies we found are still intact and we think there are more bodies to wash ashore.”
Earlier this month, fifty-three migrants, including two babies, were dead or missing after a rubber boat carrying 55 people capsized off the coast of Zuwara town in western Tripoli, the International Organization for Migration said.
Last week, a UN report said migrants in Libya, including young girls, are at risk of being killed, tortured, raped or put into domestic slavery, calling for a moratorium on the return of migrant boats to the country until human rights are ensured.
