Egypt called on Thursday for African and international mediators to step in and ease worsening regional tension over an Ethiopian mega-dam that threatens to reduce water flows to downstream countries.
Addressing UN talks on water, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly decried a bitter stand-off with Ethiopia that was causing “rivalries and polarisation” over Addis Ababa's Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, a hydropower facility on the Blue Nile.
Ethiopia started building the dam in 2011 and filled the reservoir behind it for the first time last year, causing a breakdown in long-running talks and fears in downstream Egypt and Sudan over reduced Nile water flow.
"This dam requires that we go back to negotiations as quickly as possible with African and international participation so that we can reach a just and balanced agreement that is legally binding for the filling and bringing online of the dam before the new high tide season," Dr Madbouly said.
The Sudanese and Egyptian governments are worried that the dam will reduce the water levels of the Nile downstream and further deprive their already underserved populations of water for agriculture, industry and everyday life.
This week, Sudan formally requested four-party mediation on the stand-off, with appeals to the African Union, the UN, the European Union and the US over how and when Ethiopia should fill the dam.
“This project is the largest hydroelectric dam in Africa and we have spent a decade of bitter negotiations with our brothers in Sudan and Ethiopia to reach a balanced and just agreement,” Dr Madbouly told the UN General Assembly.
These negotiations “did not lead to the desired agreement” and instead Ethiopia has started filling the dam as a fait accompli without “taking into consideration the interests” of neighbours that already face water shortages, he said.
John Mukum Mbaku, a senior non-resident fellow at the Brookings Institute in Washington, said it is important to factor in what the Nile means to each party involved.
"We have to understand that Egypt is dependent almost entirely on the Nile as a source for water – fresh water for household use, for drinking and also for economic activities like irrigation, fishing and transport," he said.
On the other side, Mr Mbaku said, Ethiopia has never reaped the benefits of the river. "You have to consider that the waters of the Nile come primarily from Ethiopia, and over the years, the Ethiopians have not really used the Nile waters for development. The waters have been used primarily by Sudan and Egypt."
Egypt uses the Nile for about 90 per cent of its freshwater supplies and fears the dam will worsen shortages. It wants a legally binding deal over how to manage water supplies and settle disputes.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the world body was “ready to help all the parties” resolve the dispute but provided no further details.
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
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Iran has sent five planeloads of food to Qatar, which is suffering shortages amid a regional blockade.
A number of nations, including Iran's major rival Saudi Arabia, last week cut ties with Qatar, accusing it of funding terrorism, charges it denies.
The land border with Saudi Arabia, through which 40% of Qatar's food comes, has been closed.
Meanwhile, mediators Kuwait said that Qatar was ready to listen to the "qualms" of its neighbours.
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Other ways to buy used products in the UAE
UAE insurance firm Al Wathba National Insurance Company (AWNIC) last year launched an e-commerce website with a facility enabling users to buy car wrecks.
Bidders and potential buyers register on the online salvage car auction portal to view vehicles, review condition reports, or arrange physical surveys, and then start bidding for motors they plan to restore or harvest for parts.
Physical salvage car auctions are a common method for insurers around the world to move on heavily damaged vehicles, but AWNIC is one of the few UAE insurers to offer such services online.
For cars and less sizeable items such as bicycles and furniture, Dubizzle is arguably the best-known marketplace for pre-loved.
Founded in 2005, in recent years it has been joined by a plethora of Facebook community pages for shifting used goods, including Abu Dhabi Marketplace, Flea Market UAE and Arabian Ranches Souq Market while sites such as The Luxury Closet and Riot deal largely in second-hand fashion.
At the high-end of the pre-used spectrum, resellers such as Timepiece360.ae, WatchBox Middle East and Watches Market Dubai deal in authenticated second-hand luxury timepieces from brands such as Rolex, Hublot and Tag Heuer, with a warranty.
Eyasses squad
Charlie Preston (captain) – goal shooter/ goalkeeper (Dubai College)
Arushi Holt (vice-captain) – wing defence / centre (Jumeriah English Speaking School)
Olivia Petricola (vice-captain) – centre / wing attack (Dubai English Speaking College)
Isabel Affley – goalkeeper / goal defence (Dubai English Speaking College)
Jemma Eley – goal attack / wing attack (Dubai College)
Alana Farrell-Morton – centre / wing / defence / wing attack (Nord Anglia International School)
Molly Fuller – goal attack / wing attack (Dubai College)
Caitlin Gowdy – goal defence / wing defence (Dubai English Speaking College)
Noorulain Hussain – goal defence / wing defence (Dubai College)
Zahra Hussain-Gillani – goal defence / goalkeeper (British School Al Khubairat)
Claire Janssen – goal shooter / goal attack (Jumeriah English Speaking School)
Eliza Petricola – wing attack / centre (Dubai English Speaking College)
