Egypt’s leader meets US treasury chief ahead of Sudan visit

Egypt’s leader meets US treasury chief ahead of Sudan visit

Author: Associated PressID: 1609877260316872200Tue, 2021-01-05 19:57

CAIRO: Egypt's president met Tuesday with US Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin in Cairo, ahead of Mnuchin's first visit to Sudan since the end of Khartoum's pariah status.

The office of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said in a statement the president and Mnuchin discussed mutual and regional issues, including the latest developments in talks with Sudan and Ethiopia over a disputed dam that Ethiopia is building over the Blue Nile River.

The statement said El-Sisi appreciated US efforts in the dam talks last year that resulted in a US-crafted draft deal to resolve the yearslong dispute over the massive project.

The three Nile Valley countries met Sunday in the latest push by South Africa, the current chairman of the African Union, which is mediating a deal between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia.

Experts from the three nations and the AU were to meet Monday, but Sudan boycotted the meeting and insisted on a greater role for AU experts in the negotiations.

Egypt initialed the draft deal, crafted by the United States in February, but Ethiopia did not attend the signing ceremony and accused President Donald Trump's administration of siding with Egypt. Sudan attended the meeting but did not sign.

The US has suspended