Sudan Refuses to Endorse Arab League Resolution over GERD Row

ENA,March 5/2020 Sudan has expressed its "reservations" over a draft resolution proposed by Egypt to the Arab League to support Egypt in the dispute over Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).  

Arab Foreign Ministers on Wednesday gathered in Cairo to endorse support for Egypt over the resolution of Ethiopia’s flagship project the GERD.

Tensions between Cairo and Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam mounted over the past week after Ethiopia pulled out from US-sponsored talks in Washington that aimed to reach a final deal between the three countries.

Despite support from all Arab states for the draft resolution, Sudan did not show any enthusiasm, but rather requested that Sudan's name not be included in the resolution, reports revealed.

Sudan said the pan-Arab bloc should not be involved in the row and argued that the resolution does not serve its interests and expressed fears that “an Arab-Ethiopian confrontation might result from it”.

The latest crisis began after the U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin sent a letter warning Ethiopia not to operate its hydropower dam, using inflammatory rhetoric similar to the former Egyptian government of Morsi that threatened military action. 

The U.S. treasury puts out a piecemeal document for Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt to sign, which is totally unacceptable.

Ethiopia has rejected U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s advice to Ethiopia not to fill the dam before an agreement was “ill-advised”.

Former United States Ambassador David Shinn accused the Trump administration of “putting its thumb on the scale in favor of Egypt,” in the dispute with Ethiopia and Sudan over a new hydro-dam

David Shinn said he is “surprised” by Mnuchin’s role; adding that the US State Department, not the US Treasury Department, has the expertise to deal with such a sensitive matter.

Similarly, Congressman Steven Alexander Horsford on Tuesday has called upon Trump Administration to avoid discrepancy and balance stance toward the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

Horsford, who’s Nevada’s 4th Congressional District, said the US need to follow balanced approach towards the dam in order to ensure the interest of Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt.