For two days official visit Lt. General Abdel Fattah Abdelrahman al-Burhan, head of Sudanese Military Council, arrived Addis Ababa, Ethiopia this morning.
General al-Burhan is received by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia, according to the ruling party affiliated media outlet FBC. During his stay General al-Burhan is expected to confer on various security and development related issues with Prime Minister Abiy and other Ethiopian officials.
Early this week General al-Burhan has also made a brief visit to Cairo, Egypt where he spent hours. Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt have been engaged in a long negotiations about the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), which is being built a few dozens of kilometers away from the Sudan border.
Ethiopia is constructing the hydro dam using the Abbay River that flows into Sudan and Egypt. Egypt has been expressing its concern that the 74 billion cubic meters water reservoir GERD will reduce its water flow from Abbay River. On the contrary, Ethiopia has been arguing that it will not cause significant harm to the downstream countries (Sudan and Egypt) water consumption from its river.
General al-Burhan’s today visit came a week after President Trump of the United Sates made a controversial comment indicating that Egypt will “blowup” GERD because the source of the water refused the deal he brokered. President Trump made the remark speaking with Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok of Sudan.
His comment has angered many Ethiopians including those in the Diaspora Europe and the United States, who came out in mass on the streets of Washington and London this week denouncing the President Trump’s war instigation comment. It is expected that GERD related issues will be among the topics General al-Burhan and Ethiopian officials will be discussing during his two days visit.