This handout picture taken on July 20, 2020 and released by Adwa Pictures on July 27, 2020 shows an aerial view of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile River in Guba, northwest Ethiopia. (YIRGA MENGISTU / ADWA PICTURES / AFP)
KHARTOUM – Sudan and Egypt on Saturday voiced rejection to a "fait accompli" approach to the issue of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
"The two countries reiterate rejection of any approach seeking a fait accompli on and control of the Blue Nile through unilateral measures that do not observe the rights and interests of the two downstream countries," said Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi following his talks with Chairman of Sudan's Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in Sudan's capital Khartoum.
Egypt and Sudan also stressed the need to return to "serious and effective negotiations to reach a fair, balanced and legally binding agreement regarding the filling and operation of the GERD as soon as possible"
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Egypt and Sudan also "stress the need to return to serious and effective negotiations to reach a fair, balanced and legally binding agreement regarding the filling and operation of the GERD as soon as possible," he added.
Sisi reviewed with al-Burhan the possibility of relaunching negotiation through formation of an international quartet committee of the African Union, the United States, the European Union and the United Nations as the mediator, according to the Egyptian president.
Sisi arrived in Khartoum earlier on Saturday for a one-day visit to Sudan, where the Egyptian leader also met with Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and Deputy Chairman of Sudan's Sovereign Council Mohamed Hamdan Daqlu.
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