Egypt to unveil water security risks at 6-party meeting

Egypt will unveil at the six-party meeting, currently taking place in Khartoum, risks it faces due to a controversial dam set up by Ethiopia, said sources participating in the talks on Friday.

These risks are imminent, if Addis Ababa continues the establishment of the dam at a storage capacity of 74 billion cubic meters, which is equivalent to the shares of both Egypt and Sudan in a year, said the sources.

The talks, ongoing in Khartoum, will not be the last and decisive, the sources said, adding that others rounds will be held within days.

The date of the coming discussions will be set later, the sources noted.

"It's difficult to resolve the outstanding issues at one meeting," said the sources. They added "the delegations are keen on returning to their leaderships and governments to consult and conduct necessary assessments to make decisions."

Cairo will uncover these risks with precise scientific statistics and figures, said the sources. They cited that the declaration of principles signed by the leaders of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia required three rounds of talks to be agreed.

Ethiopia is required to show good will in the negotiations now more than any past time through accord on a clear mechanism, coordination and integration among the Nile Basin countries to manage all dams on the Nile, said the sources.

Joint projects can be carried out to make use of the Nile water and lure international investments to serve interests of the three countries, said the sources.

They asserted that the building of the dam without accord will threaten the water security of Egypt and Sudan, stressing that other dams are possible to set up on the Nile.

Sources: MENA