Ethiopia ratchets up rhetoric in GERD row: The extent of the diplomatic impasse over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) was laid bare yesterday after it emerged that Ethiopia had accused Egypt of having “colonial era” control of the Nile. A note distributed to embassies by the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry on 1 October called Egypt’s proposal “an effort to maintain a self-claimed colonial era-based water allocation and veto power on any project in the Nile system,” Reuters reported. Talks in Khartoum over the weekend once again failed to produce an agreement on how much water Ethiopia will release each year when the dam becomes operational. Egypt depends on the Nile for 90% of its water and wants Ethiopia to release 40 bcm a year from its reservoir, a higher quantity than the 35 bcm proposed by Addis Ababa. Egypt has called for the US to step in and mediate the talks, an idea that Ethiopia rejected from the outset.

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