(April 07. 2012, Addis Ababa)--Despite long-standing protest against its execution, Sudanese president, Omar al-Bashir, told the newly appointed Ethiopian ambassador to Sudan, Abadi Zemo, that his country supports the controversial Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam project.
According to a statement from the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bashir made the announcement while receiving the new Ethiopian envoy to Sudan in Khartoum, where the two sides also held talks on a number of bilateral issues.
Bashir said his government understands the mutual benefits the project could offer Ethiopia and Sudan and said he will extend the necessary support to ensure the successful completion of the massive hydro-power project. Ethiopia intends to become a regional power hub by daming the Nile. Zemo said the historical and cultural ties between Ethiopia and Sudan will be further strengthened.
In 2011 Ethiopia began the construction of the US$4.8 billion dam project on the Blue Nile near the Sudanese border, leading to outcry from the downstream countries of Sudan and Egypt; which had control over most of the water resources using a treaty signed during colonial era.
Egypt and Sudan previously argued that the construction of the dam would negatively affect their water shares and insisted the project should be blocked, calling on international donors against funding it. Ethiopia argued that the project would not have a detrimental affect on Sudan or Egypt, and that it would continue with it, regardless of their reactions. Read more from AllAfrica.com »
According to a statement from the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bashir made the announcement while receiving the new Ethiopian envoy to Sudan in Khartoum, where the two sides also held talks on a number of bilateral issues.
Bashir said his government understands the mutual benefits the project could offer Ethiopia and Sudan and said he will extend the necessary support to ensure the successful completion of the massive hydro-power project. Ethiopia intends to become a regional power hub by daming the Nile. Zemo said the historical and cultural ties between Ethiopia and Sudan will be further strengthened.
In 2011 Ethiopia began the construction of the US$4.8 billion dam project on the Blue Nile near the Sudanese border, leading to outcry from the downstream countries of Sudan and Egypt; which had control over most of the water resources using a treaty signed during colonial era.
Egypt and Sudan previously argued that the construction of the dam would negatively affect their water shares and insisted the project should be blocked, calling on international donors against funding it. Ethiopia argued that the project would not have a detrimental affect on Sudan or Egypt, and that it would continue with it, regardless of their reactions. Read more from AllAfrica.com »
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