Seven years of talks between Egypt and Ethiopia in Sudan over a massive dam construction on the Nile river have reached a deadlock with Cairo appealing to the international community to intervene.
Ethiopia began constructing the Grand Renaissance dam on the Blue Nile in 2012 saying the construction was vital for providing electricity.
However, Egypt says the construction will severely reduce its water supplies and claims to have “historic rights” to the river guaranteed by decades-old treaties, the East African reported.
Following the end of another round of talks on the matter in Khartoum over the weekend Cairo called for an international party to mediate between the three countries after asserting in a statement that Addis Ababa had rejected all proposals taking Egypt’s water interests into account and that Ethiopia’s proposals lacked guarantees.
Ethiopia, however, has dismissed Cairo's assessment of the latest negotiations.
"The allegation that talks ended in a deadlock is completely false," Ethiopian Minister for Water and Energy Selishi Bekele told reporters on Saturday. He added that some progress had been made before adding that there were still outstanding issues.