Sudan is not intermediary between Egypt, Ethiopia in GERD issue: Sudanese FM

Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour said Sudan is not an intermediary between Egypt and Ethiopia in the issue of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), during his meeting with a group of politicians at the Sudanese ambassador’s residency in Cairo on Sunday.

“Sudan’s interests are similar to Egypt’s and we will not allow anything to threaten both our and Egypt’s water security,” he said.

According to Ghandour, GERD is built by a professional company that has already built dozens of dams in Europe, which should reassure officials of its safety. He highlighted that it cannot harm Sudan or Egypt.

Ghandour also reviewed the previous talks held between Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan and said they were conducted extensively and with transparency.

Egyptian politicians, such as Amr Moussa, former prime minister Essam Sharaf, former foreign minister Nabil Fahmy, political affairs commentator Mostafa Al-Fekky, head of the Al-Wafd Party El-Sayed El-Badawi, and a group of journalists and researchers attended the Sunday meeting with Ghandour.

Ghandour also met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry Sunday. They discussed the regional updates and ways to deal with unfolding crises. They also agreed to bolster their cooperation on the African level to counter different current challenges in the continent.

The Office of National Council for the Coordination of Public Participation for GERD construction said Sunday that public participation is increasing with time and is one of the main inputs in the dam’s construction and needs to be strengthened further.

It further noted that the continuous participation of donations from the public and

Ethiopian citizens living abroad reached 8.1bn Ethiopian Birr ($382m), which were collected through selling bonds and other means.

Source: Daily News Egypt