KHARTOUM (Somaliguardian) – Sudan has requested the United Nations on Tuesday to withdraw Ethiopian peacekeepers from its territory, citing “lack of confidence” after tensions between the two countries heightened over the past weeks.
Sudanese Foreign Minister Mariam al-Mahdi said in an interview with Alhadath TV that the request came after Ethiopia refused to halt the second filling of the Renaissance Dam, leading to the collapse of three-day talks in Congo’s capital, Kinshasa.
Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri stressed that the talks “made no progress” and accused the Ethiopian side of intransigence, threatening that his government would take action if its citizens’ access to water is reduced by the dam.
Sudan also accused the government of the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of imposing a fait accompli on the mega dam which “constitutes a violation against the international law”.
“Sudan has urged the United Nations to replace the Ethiopian troops part of the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNIFSA) with peacekeepers from other countries,” Sudanese Foreign Minister said.
“It is not conceivable to accept Ethiopian forces deployed in the strategic depth of Sudan while the Ethiopian troops are massing on the eastern borders of Sudan.”
Sudanese and Egyptian governments blamed “lack of political will” to negotiate on the part of the Ethiopian delegation for the breakdown of talks in Kinshasa.
The Sudanese move comes after Ethiopian and Eritrean forces have been deployed in large numbers on the disputed border between Sudan and Ethiopia as ownership of the fertile Fashaqa land is feared to embroil the countries into an all-out war.
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