SUDAN NEWS ALERT: AP - 3-country talks on Nile waters wrap up without agreement

5/10/19: AP - 3-country talks on Nile waters wrap up without agreement, by Samy Magdy

 AP report that irrigation ministers from Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia wrapped up a two-day meeting in Khartoum without resolving differences over Ethiopia’s soon-to-be-finished Blue Nile dam.

 Egypt called for international mediation to help reach a “fair and balanced” agreement. Ethiopia responded that these demands “go against the consent of Ethiopia and Sudan.”

 85% of Nile waters originate in Ethiopia. Egypt fears that the proposed Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam could reduce its share of the Nile River, which is a lifeline for its 100 million people.

 Sudan Irrigation Minister Yasser Abbas said that progress was made but differences on filling the giant reservoir and operating rules of the remain unsettled. He said Ethiopia proposed a plan to fill the reservoir over four to seven years, without elaborating.