It was agreed to push back the meeting by a week CAIRO: The tripartite negotiations over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam have been postponed for a week at Sudan’s request. The Sudanese Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation said it had asked for the postponement to consult over recent developments and the change in the negotiation agenda to include matters relating to water sharing among the Nile Basin countries. It was agreed to push back the meeting by a week, provided that the ministers consulted over the agenda and the level of participation in the next meeting. The Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation announced that Egypt participated in the last meeting on Monday to negotiate the rules for filling and operating the Grand Renaissance Dam. It said that at the beginning of the meeting the Egyptian side expressed its readiness to resume negotiations on the basis of the mini-African summit held on July 21, as well as the ministerial meeting on Aug. 3 over a binding agreement on the rules for filling and operating the Renaissance Dam. FASTFACT Egypt has rejected any unilateral action by Addis Ababa and called for Ethiopia to adhere to the principles of international law. The Ethiopian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation issued a statement that the negotiations were to be completed within two weeks, based on the recommendations of the African Union, but Egypt and Sudan requested a delay. Egypt has rejected any unilateral action by Addis Ababa and called for Ethiopia to adhere to the principles of international law. Former Egyptian Minister of Irrigation Mohamed Nasr Allam said the Ethiopian was claiming that it had completed the construction of the dam and filled its first stage, and that Egypt and Sudan must accept the Ethiopian negotiating offer or surrender. He said that the aim of these claims is to raise Ethiopian morale. He rejected Ethiopian claims over the condition of the Ethiopian people and their lack of services and water, and its assertions that Egypt floats on reservoirs of groundwater, which are based on the statements of “Egyptian scholars.” “The whole world knows that it is not true,” he said. Allam said that Egypt is committed to achieving a peaceful agreement that serves the interests of the three countries.