MOGADISHU, Somalia

Somali said on Wednesday that it stands impartial regarding the Nile Dam dispute between Sudan, Egypt, and Ethiopia.

“As you know the Nile River doesn’t pass through Somalia and the country’s position is neutral,” presidential spokesman Abdikarin Ali Kaar said at a news conference in Mogadishu as he urged the countries to find a peaceful resolution to sharing water resources.

Kaar also denied that Somalia is siding with Egypt on longstanding Ethiopia’s Grand Renaissance Nile Dam dispute.

The remarks were made on the day after Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mahamud returned from a trip to Egypt where he discussed bilateral ties and the Horn of African crisis with his counterpart, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

Sisi said Egypt will support Somalia in education and its fight against terrorism. But Egyptian media said the leaders also discussed the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam dispute and highlighted the danger of unilateral policies when implementing projects on transboundary rivers.