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MINILIK SALSAWI
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Egyptian official: Ethiopia dam negotiations in Washington ‘a disaster’

Post by MINILIK SALSAWI » 17 Jan 2020, 03:05

Egyptian officials, who spoke to Mada Masr on condition of anonymity, say that Cairo finds itself in a weak negotiating position with little outside support and is coming under pressure to agree to a less than favorable deal.

An official member of the Egyptian delegation in Washington described the negotiations as a “disaster” as the talks proceeded on Tuesday.

Another official source confirmed that the talks were not going well and that the Trump administration was pressuring Egypt to accept the minimum conditions in order to finalize a deal. Hours after both sources spoke to Mada Masr, the talks, which were originally scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, were extended for a third day, because the Trump administration refused to conclude the negotiations without some kind of joint statement, the second source said.

According to a well-informed consultant for the minister of irrigation on the dam project, the Trump administration is pressuring Egypt to accept Ethiopia’s proposals in return for compensation from the World Bank in the case of any water shortages. The nature of the compensation is unclear as yet.

According to the source, Ethiopia is refusing to commit to a number of key conditions: Firstly, that its annual share of water will be less than 40 billion cubic meters; secondly, that it will provide Egypt with an early notification before the dam’s operations begin; and thirdly, that the operations of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam will be compatible with the safe operation of the Aswan High Dam — specifically, that the High Dam would be capable of producing sufficient electricity.

Read Full Article : https://madamasr.com/en/2020/01/16/feat ... -disaster/