Somalia remains neutral in Ethiopia-Egypt row over GERD-spokesman

GOOBJOOG NEWS|MOGADISHU: Somalia has said it is maintaining a neutral position in the dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia on the filling of the controversial GERD dam.

Presidential spokesman Abdikarim Kaar told journalists in Mogadishu that Somalia had not taken any stance in support of either side but remains a neutral party and that Somalia envisages a peaceful utilisation of the Nil waters.

“On the matter of the Nile water, the water of the Nile River passes through many countries that are all friends, neighbours and brothers of our country. As you know, the position of the Federal Republic of Somalia is that those countries use the water of the Nile River peacefully,” Kaar said.

The spokesman was responding to widespread reporting especially in the Egyptian media that Presidents Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fatah el-Sisi discussed the issue of the Grand Rennaisance Dam of Ethiopia (GERD) during a meeting in Cairo this past week.

The Nile water does not pass through Somalia but there have been concerns that Ethiopia’s numerous dams in its southern regions have contributed to the thinning of the Shabelle River which emanates from the southern Ethiopian highlands cutting through central Somalia before it drains into the Indian Ocean.