Obama’s former envoy to Sudan talks about the chances of military action on the Renaissance Dam

Experts welcomed the announcement by members of the US Congress that Washington was ready to intervene in the issue of the Renaissance Dam that Ethiopia is building on the Blue Nile, in conjunction with the US envoy to the Horn of Africa touring the region.

Professor Cameron Hudson, former US President Barack Obama’s special envoy to Sudan, said that Washington should try to calm the atmosphere over the dam.

Hudson added in an interview with Al-Masiya on Al-Jazeera Mubasher that Washington must work to avoid the outbreak of a military conflict because of the dam, which will have devastating repercussions on the entire region.

He ruled out that matters would reach the point of the outbreak of a military conflict, saying that the first thing that the United States should do is build confidence among the countries of the region by being a neutral party.

Hudson said that the visit of Jeffrey Feltman, the US envoy to the Horn of Africa, to the region is to prepare the atmosphere for his country to intervene in the Renaissance Dam negotiations.

He called on the authorities in Ethiopia not to believe that Feltman is taking a hostile stance against it.

As for Dr. Hassan Nafaa, a professor of political science at Cairo University, he said that the United States is able to play a role in the Renaissance Dam file and has the means to pressure all parties and know the details of the negotiations.

Nafaa added that Washington’s ability to achieve progress is linked to being a neutral party and strictly abiding by international law.

He questioned whether the administration of US President Joe Biden has the desire to reach an agreement, pointing out that Washington’s conflicting accounts with many capitals may prevent this.

Nafaa demanded the Egyptian authorities not to rule out resorting to military action if Ethiopia insisted on the second filling of the dam’s reservoir before reaching a binding legal agreement between the three countries regarding the filling and operation of the dam.

He stressed that Egypt understood that Ethiopia was building a dam to generate electricity, but Addis Ababa had turned it into a dam to hold water, which Cairo could not bear.

For his part, Engineer Fouad Othman, Secretary of External Relations of the Sudanese Congress Party and the leader of the Forces of Freedom and Change, said that the Ethiopian side is counting on the factor of time and wants to put Egypt and Sudan before the fait accompli. .

For his part, the Ethiopian political analyst, Muhammad Al-Arousi, expressed his belief that Ethiopia had not changed its position on the issues of the Renaissance Dam file, warning that any attempt to marginalize the African Union’s role in the negotiations might abort the American attempt.

He said that his country showed great flexibility to reach an agreement on the dam.