Sudan hands Ethiopia 61 prisoners of war

[Khalumi]

Sudan had yesterday handed Ethiopia 61 prisoners of war who were captured in the disputed Fashaqa region. They were from the federal army of Ethiopia and the militia they support. This is a goodwill gesture from Sudan, done a little too soon I think

https://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article69435

 

[Khalumi]

 

[xabashi]

That is a good gesture from Sudan. Sudan and Ethiopia don't have the will to go to war with each other. But the prisoners are not federal Army soldiers. These are local militias and that is also the reason why the local Amhara police showed up to receive them. There was no war between Sudan and Ethiopia hence the term prisoner of war is a bit misleading. Most of these militias are farmers in the disputed area. A good gesture anyway.

 

[stophatingtho]

That is a good gesture from Sudan. Sudan and Ethiopia don't have the will to go to war with each other. But the prisoners are not federal Army soldiers. These are local militias and that is also the reason why the local Amhara police showed up to receive them. A good gesture anyway.

bet

 

[Shimbiris]

That is a good gesture from Sudan. Sudan and Ethiopia don't have the will to go to war with each other. But the prisoners are not federal Army soldiers. These are local militias and that is also the reason why the local Amhara police showed up to receive them. A good gesture anyway.

Isn't Sudan's economy in shambles? A war would be a disaster for them. The boys in Khartoum would have to be on some psychedelics to think it a good idea.

 

[stophatingtho]

Isn't Sudan's economy in shambles? A war would be a disaster for them. The boys in Khartoum would have to be on some psychedelics to think it a good idea.

It would be more like a war between Egypt and Ethiopia

 

[Khalumi]

That is a good gesture from Sudan. Sudan and Ethiopia don't have the will to go to war with each other. But the prisoners are not federal Army soldiers. These are local militias and that is also the reason why the local Amhara police showed up to receive them. There was no war between Sudan and Ethiopia hence the term prisoner of war is a bit misleading. Most of these militias are farmers in the disputed area. A good gesture anyway.

In Sudan, when a soldier or rebel is captured their uniforms and ammunition’s are taken away. They are then given traditional Jalabiyas, even normal prisoners in Sudan are given Jalabiyas to wear.

Obviously when these men were captured, they were not wearing this. These are Ethiopian militias +soldiers who were in uniform in the Fashaqa district. They were holding guns where they were not supposed to. If they were just farmers, the police alone would hand them over.

of course like I always argued, Sudan does not want war. Specially not with a country that we historically had very strong relations with. Whether we like it or not, we will forever be neighbours. Abiy needs to calm down those Amharic tribesmen with Imperial dreams and just delay the filling of the dam a little bit. If that is achieved, then we would not even think about war and Port Sudan would always be open for Ethiopia.

 

[xabashi]

Isn't Sudan's economy in shambles? A war would be a disaster for them. The boys in Khartoum would have to be on some psychedelics to think it a good idea.

Both countries can't afford war and both don't really want it. There is also no bad feelings, no old wounds, or rivalry etc. between the two. So there is simply no motivation for both to go to war.

 

[Khalumi]

Isn't Sudan's economy in shambles? A war would be a disaster for them. The boys in Khartoum would have to be on some psychedelics to think it a good idea.

It is true that Sudan’s economy is having a bad time and will be for the next 3 years. but that will definitely not stop the country from protecting its borders. Likewise, Ethiopia is unstable and has no stomach for foreign interferences in their conflicts

 

[Khalumi]

It would be more like a war between Egypt and Ethiopia

it is simple geography and mathematics. Egypt is the last country where the Nile flows, so any water that Ethiopia takes would hurt Egypt first.

Egypt gets 55 billion cubic meters of waters, Sudan gets 18. Unless Ethiopia takes away more than 55 billion cubic meters of water from the Nile, Sudan’s share would never be affected

 

[Khalumi]

Then again on GERD, I think the reason the Ethiopians are doing this so quick is revenge for the 60’s.


I don’t remember the exact story, but an Ethiopian official had complained about the Aswan dam location that evaporates a lot of water. The Egyptians had simply replied saying that this is “our” water

so I actually don’t blame the Ethiopians for their determination

 

[xabashi]

Then again on GERD, I think the reason the Ethiopians are doing this so quick is revenge for the 60’s.


I don’t remember the exact story, but an Ethiopian official had complained about the Aswan dam location that evaporates a lot of water. The Egyptians had simply replied saying that this is “our” water

so I actually don’t blame the Ethiopians for their determination

Ethiopia has only 47% electricity coverage and you believe Ethiopians are building a $5Bln hydro electric dam to "revenge for the 60's" which no Ethiopian doesn't even know what you are talking about? Have you ever thought about how many factories are under-performing due to lack of electricity? In Amhara region alone more than 400 factories are currently waiting to get electricity to start operation. Ethiopia's second rail way line is waiting for almost 2 years to get electricity after completion. The hydro electric dam for Ethiopia has nothing to do with harming Egypt. We are not in a luxury to play such silly games. We want to get our people out of poverty. The dam can max hold 5% of the overall Nile waters. There is no harm to Egypt. Egypt is just acting as a spoiled kid but it will not affect the construction or filling of our dam by any means.

 

[Khalumi]

Ethiopia has only 47% electricity coverage and you believe Ethiopians are building a $5Bln hydro electric dam to "revenge for the 60's" which no Ethiopian doesn't even know what you are talking about? Have you ever thought about how many factories are under-performing due to lack of electricity? In Amhara region alone more than 400 factories are currently waiting to get electricity to start operation. Ethiopia's second rail way line is waiting for almost 2 years to get electricity after completion. The hydro electric dam for Ethiopia has nothing to do with harming Egypt. We are not in a luxury to play such silly games. We want to get our people out of poverty. The dam can max hold 5% of the overall Nile waters. There is no harm to Egypt. Egypt is just acting as a spoiled kid but it will not affect the construction or filling of our dam by any means.

Well, to be honest yes. I do truly believe so

The reason is very simple, nobody is saying that Ethiopia should “not” construct the dam. Ethiopia has every right to build a dam to help its people. Ethiopia is a great nation with 120+ million people. It has the right to do what it sees is fit to help its people.

the issue we have is the way Ethiopia is going to”fill” the dam. Ethiopia wants to fill up the dam within a very short period of time which would affect the water flow for a few years. Egypt and Sudan are only asking for the “filling” to be conducted over a longer period of time instead as it would not impact our water shares.

This would not hurt Ethiopia as effectively, we are asking for the dam to be filled and in full operation just a year or 2 later. But Ethiopia is saying “No” we will not wait and will start filling again in the summer. What other reason would stop Ethiopia from doing this other than to hit back at Egypt?

less water flow would also affect Sudan’s Dams such as the Rosaires and Merowe dams....it would affect Egypt’s Aswan and also agriculture in the delta etc

 

[xabashi]

Well, to be honest yes. I do truly believe so

The reason is very simple, nobody is saying that Ethiopia should “not” construct the dam. Ethiopia has every right to build a dam to help its people. Ethiopia is a great nation with 120+ million people. It has the right to do what it sees is fit to help its people.

the issue we have is the way Ethiopia is going to”fill” the dam. Ethiopia wants to fill up the dam within a very short period of time which would affect the water flow for a few years. Egypt and Sudan are only asking for the “filling” to be conducted over a longer period of time instead as it would not impact our water shares.

This would not hurt Ethiopia as effectively, we are asking for the dam to be filled and in full operation just a year or 2 later. But Ethiopia is saying “No” we will not wait and will start filling again in the summer. What other reason would stop Ethiopia from doing this other than to hit back at Egypt?

less water flow would also affect Sudan’s Dams such as the Rosaires and Merowe dams....it would affect Egypt’s Aswan and also agriculture in the delta etc

It is clear you are not in sync with the status of the negotiations. There is no dispute on how fast the dam is filled. Ethiopia first wanted to fill it in 3 years but expanded it to 7 years. All 3 countries agreed. There is zero dispute about the time of the filling.

The only outstanding issue is how much water Ethiopia should release during drought years. Egypt wants that the amount of water during drought should be decided by a third international body and wants Ethiopia to sign a binding agreement on that. Ethiopia says unless we have agreed on water sharing i.e. how much water is Ethiopia's share in the first place, we will not sign a binding agreement at all and we will not give the management of our sovereign dam to foreign entities.

Egypt then says please stop the filling of the dam until we agree about the water being released during drought years. So the real dispute is not how fast Ethiopia is filling but that Egypt is insisting that the filling be done after a final and binding agreement about the drought years is achieved. Ethiopia rejects it and says we have already agreed on the pace of the filling and so there is no point of waiting until a final agreement on the drought years is found. The negotiation about the drought years should be handled separately.

 

[Asaana]

Isn't Sudan's economy in shambles? A war would be a disaster for them. The boys in Khartoum would have to be on some psychedelics to think it a good idea.

The military is well-financed and has the capability of manufacturing weapons unlike Ethiopia, who lost most of their troops in Tigray and recently ran out of foreign currency.

Fuel lines in Addis are now worse than Khartoums last year