• Mohammed Idris, Egypt’s permanent representative to the UN, stated that Cairo held the Security Council accountable for its responsibilities regarding the dam crisis
• Idris pointed out that Tunisia is implementing the draft resolution submitted by Egypt and Sudan to the Security Council regarding the dam

Mohammed Abu Zaid

CAIRO: Egypt strongly reaffirmed its position during the UN Security Council session on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam negotiations, a top diplomat said.

Mohammed Idris, Egypt’s permanent representative to the UN, stated that Cairo held the Security Council accountable for its responsibilities regarding the Renaissance Dam crisis.

The Egyptian state has engaged in intensive diplomatic moves to present the Ethiopian dam crisis to the Security Council, the ambassador announced in televised statements.

The world is full of issues that threaten security and peace, and the Security Council must play its role, the envoy added.

The members of the Security Council do not want to take a position on the dam, said the envoy.

In previous statements, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said that the matter within the Security Council was complicated, given “political considerations and alignments,” the interaction between permanent and non-permanent members, and “overlapping interests.”

He stated that bringing the issue of the Renaissance Dam to the Security Council was an important matter in order to “hold it responsible as the main organ in the UN system concerned with maintaining peace and security.”

He added that Ethiopia’s argument during the Security Council session was “weak and did not live up to the words of Egypt and Sudan.”