6 Meeting on Ethiopian dam to start in Sudan Friday

Preparations are underway for a six-way meeting on the Renaissance Dam among the foreign and irrigation ministers of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia.

The meeting will be held in Khartoum on Friday, said Egypt's Irrigation Minister Hossam Moghazi on Tuesday.

Called for by Egypt, the meeting is meant to reach a consensus among the three countries on the dam.

Moghazi made it clear that negotiations are ongoing at all diplomatic and technical levels between his Ministry and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and sovereign bodies with the aim to outline solutions and alternatives that would help soothe fears of the Egyptian people about Egypt's historical and constant rights in the Nile River.

Egypt is well aware of how dangerous the time factor is and of the growing gap between the pace of talks and construction, which is way ahead, the minister noted.

An agreement has been reached on a unified Egyptian vision, Moghazi said, adding "We're going as one Egyptian team."

Friday's meeting is meant to push for a start of the implementation of required technical studies, he said, noting that Egypt found it necessary that all six ministers meet ahead of the 10th round of talks in order to solve pending problems.

On Monday, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi met an Ethiopian popular diplomatic delegation.

Sisi welcomed the idea of activating a relationship coordination office between the two countries, seeing in it a mechanism of direct communications at the popular level, said presidential spokesman Alaa Youssef.

The president also told the Ethiopian delegation that he is looking forward to boosting parliamentary ties with Addis Ababa, with a new Egyptian parliament about to convene, Youssef added.

Sources: MENA