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CAIRO: The Egyptian Foreign Ministry has announced that Egypt welcomes and supports a Sudanese proposal to form an international quartet committee to mediate stalled negotiations on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), made at a meeting of interested parties with the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) African Union (AU) presidency coordinator, Alphonse Ntumba.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry expressed his support toward the proposed committee, which would be convened under the auspices of Felix Tshisekedi, the president of the DRC.
Shoukry expressed hope that the move would push negotiations forward and assist Cairo, Khartoum and Addis Ababa in reaching an agreement as soon as possible over Ethiopia’s filling of the GERD’s lake.
Spokesman Ahmed Hafez said that during the meeting, Shoukry expressed his appreciation for the DRC’s endeavors during its presidency of the AU, and that he looked forward to the key role Kinshasa can play to help reach a legally binding agreement on the rules of filling and operating the GERD, taking into account the interests of the three countries.
Hafez added that Cairo had confirmed to the Congolese delegation that the proposed committee should include representatives from the US, EU, and the UN.
Mohammed Abdel Atty, Egyptian minister of water resources and irrigation, affirmed Egypt’s commitment to safeguarding its water rights, and insisted that a legally binding agreement between the three sides was the only acceptable way to end the dispute.