Somalia rejects Arab League resolution on Egypt's stand on Nile dam construction

MOGADISHU, Somalia - The Federal Government of Somalia has rejected a resolution passed by the Arab League on the construction of Grand Renaissance Dam along the Blue Nile by Ethiopia, which favored Egypt's stand on the matter, becoming the third nation to dumb Cairo.

For months now, Addis Ababa and Cairo have been embroiled in a controversy overfilling of the dam, a move which has seen the two parties along with Sudan engage in dialogue, which has been engineered by the US.

The Arab League of Nations which comprises 22 countries had the majority of them standing with Egypt in the debacle, but the resolution has been rejected by Somalia, which now wants the impasse to be solved through peaceful means.

During a virtual meeting, Foreign Affairs minister Ahmed Awad said Mogadishu was of the opinion that Cairo and Addis Ababa embrace in a constructive dialogue, which should be based on "give and take" principles.

"I participated in two virtual and simultaneous Ministerial meetings of the League of Arab States on the conflict in Libya and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam [GERD]," Awad said. "Somalia supports the peaceful resolution of the conflict in Libya, and an agreement through talks between Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia."

While insisting that filling of the hydro-electric dam will go on as planned, Ethiopia on Wednesday said that it's committed to "tripartite negotiations to finalize the remaining issues on the first filling and annual operations of the GERD".

"Honest dialogue is the only way forward through the principle of African solutions for African problems," added the tweet by the Ethiopian Mission to the United Nations in New York.

Preparations are underway for a virtual global campaign to support the construction of the dam with Ethiopian nationals in the diaspora engineering them, state-owned Fana reported on Wednesday, a move that could also tilt the debate.

The campaign is being organized by United Ethiopians for Peace and Reconciliation (UE4PR), a UK-based civic organization, in collaboration with Global Knowledge Exchange Network – GKEN.

According to Fana, the campaign aims at informing members of the international community about the Renaissance Dam and the negotiation processes as well as raising funds for the completion of the dam.

Somalia joined the Republic of Djibouti and Qatar in defying the Arab League of Nations resolution, which favors the hegemonic stance of it. The move would be detrimental to Egypt's plans to stop the construction, a move that would further cause cracks in the organization.

Meanwhile, Deputy Ambassador of South Sudan to Ethiopia, David Ding has expressed concern over Egypt’s second complaint is referred to the United Nations Security Council demanding an intervention into GERD issues, Fana added.

Ethiopia's Foreign Minister Gedu Andargachew, through his letter to the security council, reaffirmed that the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam will not cause any harm to downstream countries and pose peace and security threats.

Egypt’s steps are aimed to pose political and diplomatic pressures on Ethiopia, Gedu reiterated through the letter. The United Nations Security Council is yet to make deliberations on the impasse, but efforts by Washington seems to be hitting a deadlock.

GAROWE ONLINE