US Aims to Facilitate Solution That Ends GERD Dispute
The US administration is reviewing its policy regarding the Egyptian-Sudanese-Ethiopian dispute over the Grand Renaissance Dam (GERD), being built by Addis Ababa on the Nile River.
The State Department said
Washington has decided to pause its assistance to Ethiopia for most security
programs, days after Secretary of State Antony Blinken described acts in Tigray
as "ethnic cleansing."
The US State Department spokesman,
Ned Price, indicated that the United States is evaluating its role in order to
facilitate reaching a solution to the dispute between Egypt, Sudan, and
Ethiopia.
"We continue to support the joint and constructive
efforts of Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan to reach an agreement."
On the situation in the Tigray
region, Price said that Washington “has decided not to lift the assistance
pause for other programs, including most programs in the security sector.”
He indicated that the resumption
of assistance will be evaluated on the basis of a number of factors and in a
timely manner, in light of developments in Ethiopia.
“Lifting our assistance pause on programming
outside of these areas remains under consideration. We are assessing whether to
resume these programs in light of new challenges in Ethiopia and, of course,
the needs of its people and how we can best address those.”
Price also announced that
Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with UN Secretary-General Antonio
Guterres to discuss Afghanistan, Ethiopia, and Burma.
Secretary Blinken called for
enhanced regional and international efforts to help resolve the humanitarian
crisis, end atrocities, and restore peace in Ethiopia. They also discussed the
importance of an independent, international and credible investigation into
reported human rights abuses and violations in Tigray.
During his testimony before the
House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Blinken said he wanted to see Eritrean
forces and those from the Amhara region replaced in Tigray by security forces
that will respect human rights and not “commit acts of ethnic cleansing.”
President Joe Biden is “deeply concerned”
about the crisis in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, announced White House
press secretary Jen Psaki.
“The president is deeply concerned
and highly engaged on this issue,” Psaki told reporters on Thursday.
