Somalilandsun: The Federal Government of Ethiopia has asked neighbouring Djibouti and Somalia to clarify their stand on the resolution adapted by the Arab League as pertains support for Egypt in relation to the Grand Ethiopia Renaissance Dam-GERD.
This was stated in Addis Ababa by minister of foreign Affairs Gedu Andargachew during an interview with the Reporter in which he also congratulated Sudan for rejection of the resolution.
Ethiopia “notes with dismay the “Resolution” of the Executive Council of the Arab League concerning the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) issued on 05 March 2020.” Said Minister Gedu
At the end of its 153rd session, the Arab League Council issued a resolution in which it rejected any form of “infringement of Egypt’s historical rights to the waters of the River Nile.”
The Arab League has 22 member states: they are, in alphabetical order: Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. It also has four observers: Brazil, Eritrea, India and Venezuela.
The Arab League stated that the pan-Arab bloc’s rejects “any form of infringement on Egypt’s historical rights to the waters of the River Nile.” The statement further stressed the need for Ethiopia “to adhere to the principles of international law,” noting that “Egyptian water security is an integral part of Arab national security.”
However, so far, Sudan is the only country out of the 22 which declined to sign on the resolution. “The Sudanese side argued that such a joint statement is not in the best interest of Sudan and the Arab League’s intervention in the issue could further strain Arab-Ethiopian relations,”
According to the Ethiopian foreign minister “None other than the Arab League should have understood how much war, conflicts, and disagreements are dismantling countries. Most of the countries on the globe suffering from war and disagreement are members of the Arab League,” as he questioned whether the league wanted to bring peace and stability to the region.
Ethiopia which thanked Sudan for its bold stand also queried the position of Djibouti and Somalia it’s two neighbour’s and members of the league in lieu of having affixed signature of approval to the Pan Arab’s block resolution.
“We have entered into official correspondence with the two countries through a letter from my office regulating an explanation from authorities in Djibouti and Mogadishu regarding their stance on the League’s position, Gedu disclosed, adding that despite these countries involvement in the passing of the resolution condemning Ethiopia, they do not believe that the resolution would play a positive role in bringing about peace to the region.
“In a letter correspondence we had with them, they said that the resolution passed by the League does not play a role in resolving the problem rather would aggravate the situation,” Gedu said. “They have told us that the problem would not be solved that way and we believe the other members of the League would follow the same suit.”
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam which is the bane of dispute with Egypt a down stream country and beneficiary of the Nile River waters is a multi billions project of the federal government aimed alleviating poverty through food sustainability and electricity generation.
