‘Ethiopia was terrible. We’re all set to sign a deal. It was negotiated for five years … and they couldn’t make the deal and I got the deal done, and then … they broke the deal,’ Trump told Sudan’s PM Hamdok
Ahram Online , Friday 23 Oct 2020
President Donald Trump speaks while on a phone call with leaders of Sudan and Israel in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, Oct. 23, 2020, in Washington. AP
US President Donald Trump and Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok on Friday called for an agreement to be reached over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissnce Dam (GERD) dispute with Ethiopia and Egypt. “We hope to reach an amicable solution soon,” Hamdok said, speaking by phone with Trump following Sudan and Israel’s announcement to normalize ties. Trump held the call in front of reporters at the White House. “It’s a very dangerous situation because Egypt is not going to be able to live that way,” the US president told Hamdok. Trump added that Egypt could end up “blowing up the dam.” “I said it and I say it loud and clear,” they could “blow up that dam,” he added. “And [Egypt] have to do something,” Trump said. Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt have been at odds over the filling and operation of the GERD, and Trump on Friday said he had brokered an agreement to resolve the issue but that Ethiopia had broken the pact, forcing Trump to cut funds. “Ethiopia was terrible. We’re all set to sign a deal. It was negotiated for five years and longer than that, and they couldn’t make the deal and I got the deal done, and then … they broke the deal, which is not good.” “I had a deal done for them and then unfortunately Ethiopia broke the deal, which they should not have done. That was a big mistake, and we’ve stopped payment to them of a lot of aid because they did it, and they will never see that money unless they adhere to that agreement. But they built a dam which stops water from flowing into the Nile. You can’t blame Egypt for being a little bit upset, right?” The United States suspended aid to Ethiopia in September over the filling of its disputed Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) without an accord with Egypt and Sudan Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has repeatedly affirmed Egyptian constants regarding a resolution for the GERD dispute, stressing the need to resume tripartite negotiations in order to reach a binding and comprehensive legal agreement between all concerned parties on the rules for filling and operating the dam Trump urged Hamdok to get Ethiopia to agree to accept the deal to resolve the water dispute. “I’m telling Egypt the same thing,” Trump added.
Trump says Egypt may ‘blow up’ Ethiopia dam
US president made the remarks as he announced normalisation deal between Israel and Sudan
US President Donald Trump announced on Friday a normalisation deal between Sudan and Israel (AFP)
Published date: 23 October 2020 21:54 UTC
US President Donald Trump voiced anger at Ethiopia over its construction of a huge dam on the Nile River and suggested Egypt may destroy it.
Trump made the remarks as he announced a normalisation deal between US ally Israel and Sudan, which like Egypt fears that Ethiopia will use up scarce water resources.
“It’s a very dangerous situation because Egypt is not going to be able to live that way,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office with leaders of Sudan and Israel on speakerphone.
“They’ll end up blowing up the dam. And I said it and I say it loud and clear – they’ll blow up that dam. And they have to do something,” Trump said.
Trump – a close ally of Egypt’s general turned president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi – had agreed to Cairo’s pleas to mediate over the dam, with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin leading talks.
The State Department said in September that it was cutting off aid to Ethiopia due to its decision to begin filling the dam despite not reaching an agreement with the downstream nations.Explained: The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance DamRead More »
“I had a deal done for them and then, unfortunately, Ethiopia broke the deal, which they should not have done. That was a big mistake,” Trump said.
“They will never see that money unless they adhere to that agreement,” he said.
Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan have been negotiating for nearly a decade to reach an agreement on outstanding issues related to the impact of the $4.6bn Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on their water security.
Ethiopia says the project is indispensable for its electrification and development needs and has voiced hope of beginning operations in early 2021.
Egypt depends on the Nile for about 97 percent of its irrigation and drinking water and is concerned that the filling of the dam will exacerbate a water shortage crisis in the event of a prolonged drought.
Sudan, Ethiopia’s northern neighbour, has concerns regarding the potential impact of the construction of the dam on its own dams, and for the safety of its population and farmland from flooding that could result from faults in the construction or operation of the GERD.
Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdulla Hamdok, asked by Trump on speakerphone about the dam, voiced appreciation for US diplomacy and said his government wanted an “amicable solution soon” among the three countries.
The speed of the filling of the dam will potentially have an immediate effect on Egypt.
If it takes five years to fill the dam, it will reduce Egypt’s water supply by 36 percent and destroy half of Egypt’s farmland, according to the Egyptian government.