The spokesperson for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry Ahmed Abu Zeid denied the claims circulating on Ethiopian news media, that Egypt requested the exclusion of Sudan from negotiations on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. The Ethiopian ‘AddisFortune’ newspaper published a report on Sunday claiming that officials from the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa had rejected an Egyptian proposal to exclude Sudan from negotiations, and said that direct negotiation between Egypt and Ethiopia continues, seeking an agreement on the controversial dam. Meanwhile, commenting on the Ethiopian newspaper’s report, former Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed al-Oraby claimed that Addis Ababa seeks to take advantage of any crisis to pressure other parties. “Ethiopia depends on leaking rumors to the media, and then denying it through officials, but after Addis Ababa has reached the desired result,” he said. During Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry’s December 26 visit to Ethiopia, Egypt submitted a proposal requesting introducing the World Bank as a neutral mediator in negotiations.

Source: Egypt Independent January 04, 2018 09:56 UTC