Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi discussed on Saturday the situation in Libyan and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) during a phone call with his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa. According to the presidency spokesman Bassam Rady, the two leaders tackled the current developments in Libya and the joint African efforts to settle it within the framework of the Cairo Declaration initiative. The Cairo Declaration is a new joint political initiative announced a week ago from Cairo by President El-Sisi, commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA) Khalifa Haftar, and Libya's parliament speaker Aguila Saleh to resolve the Libyan crisis and end the armed conflict in the Arab country. The initiative, which was welcomed by various foreign and Arab countries, mandates an intra-Libyan resolution as a basis for resolving the country's conflict under resolutions by the UN and past efforts in Paris, Rome, Abu Dhabi, and most recently in Berlin. Rady said Ramaphosa hailed the Egyptian efforts with regards the Libyan issue and welcomed the Cairo Declaration, which the South African president believes "is consistent with the efforts of the African Union to end the negative repercussions of the Libyan crisis on the stability and security of the neighbouring countries and the African continent as a whole." From his side, El-Sisi affirmed Egypt's consistent stance regarding the Libyan crisis, that is to reach a comprehensive political settlement that achieves security and stability in Libya, putting an end to acts of violence, fighting and terrorism, and also empowering the free will of the Libyan people and preserving their capabilities. The presidency spokesperson added that the call also witnessed an exchange of views on the developments in the GERD file and its related tripartite negotiations, which have been ongoing since Tuesday between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia. South Africa, the US and the EU are attending as observers in the four-day tripartite GERD negotiations brokered by Sudan in the latest bid to seal a deal on the controversial dam. Today, the last scheduled day of the negotiation, the Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation spokesman described the talks as "faltering," which he blamed on Ethiopia's “intransigence.” The ongoing negotiations come months after talks stalled last February during US sponsored meetings in Washington. The US, represented by the Treasury Department, along with the World Bank stepped in last year to host tripartite negotiations that began in November and lasted till February after years-long negotiations between the three countries hit a dead end. Following the four months of negotiations brokered by Washington, during which the three nations initially agreed on mitigation mechanisms to adjust the filling and operation of the dam during dry periods and drought, the US and the World Bank drafted a deal that was due to be signed in late February. Ethiopia skipped the last round of talks and only Egypt initialled the deal. Ethiopia hopes the massive $4.8 billion megaproject on the Blue Nile will allow it to become Africa's largest power exporter. But Egypt, which relies on the Blue Nile for 85 percent of its freshwater, fears the dam will diminish its water supply, which is already below scarcity level.
