Sudan warns window closing in Nile dam dispute, asks UN help

Sudan has joined Egypt in asking the U.N. Security Council to intervene in a dispute over Ethiopia’s newly built hydroelectric dam on the Blue Nile, warning that the window for the three countries to reach an agreement “is closing by the hour.” Sudanese Foreign Minister Asmaa Mohammed Abdalla asked the council in a letter obtained Thursday by The Associated Press to call on leaders of the three countries “to demonstrate their political will and commitment by resolving the few remaining issues and conclude an agreement” on the basis of the draft Sudan submitted June 14. Ethiopia announced last Friday that it would begin filling the huge dam’s reservoir in July after last week’s talks with Egypt and Sudan failed to reach an accord governing how the dam will be filled and operated.