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Photo of the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (»Gerd«) under construction from July 2020
Photo: - / AFP
The Ethiopian Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam ("Gerd") has already caused considerable diplomatic tensions in the region in the past.
Now there are clear warnings from Sudan that the gigantic Nile dam will go into operation without any agreement.
The Sudanese Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources, Yasser Abbas, said that any unilateral step in Ethiopia to fill the dam in the Blue Nile would be viewed as a "direct threat to national security."
Abbas told Reuters that he was proposing the US, the EU, the UN and the African Union as mediators to re-energize the stalled negotiations between his country, Sudan and Egypt over Nile water rights.
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After the rainy season last summer, Ethiopia began to fill the huge basin behind the dam.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's country ignored calls from Egypt and Sudan to first sign an agreement on the use of the dam.
The structure on the upper reaches of the Blue Nile is the largest dam in Africa.
Ethiopia plans to use the $ 4.6 billion dam to generate the electricity it needs for economic development.
Egypt left the trilateral negotiations in August.
The country sees the dam as a threat to its water supply.
In Egypt, 90 percent of the industrial water is taken from the Nile.
The mood between Sudan and Ethiopia is currently tense anyway.
According to the Reuters news agency, a dispute is simmering over agricultural land in the border region.
After the violent clashes between the Ethiopian government and apostates in the Tigray province, tens of thousands of people had recently fled to Sudan.
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fek / Reuters