CAIRO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th July, 2020) Ethiopia's EBC broadcaster on Wednesday apologized for its earlier report which said that the country started filling up the Grand Renaissance Dam on the River Nile with water.
Earlier in the day, the broadcaster said, citing Ethiopian Water Minister Seleshi Bekele, that the reservoir behind the dam had begun filling up. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry has then requested an official explanation from Ethiopia, while the Sudanese Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources announced that the Blue Nile River's flow rate has decreased after EBC's report.
"We apologize for misinterpreting the information in the previous news that Ethiopia began filling the reservoir," EBC said.
Meanwhile, Bekele said that Ethiopia would continue participating in talks regarding the dam with Egypt and Sudan.
Ethiopia has been pursuing the project since 2012 and sees it as crucial for its economic growth, but Cairo has argued that the dam would sap water resources from Sudan and Egypt, which are located further downstream. Egypt has asked the UN Security Council to intervene in the talks to prevent any unilateral steps by Ethiopia.
