U.S. Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Jeffrey Feltman is traveling to Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Kenya from May 31 to June 6 to hold talks over recent issues in the horn region, including on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, the US Department of State said on Tuesday.

“Special Envoy Feltman will meet with senior officials of the four countries to discuss cooperative approaches to supporting a stable and prosperous Horn of Africa, including a resolution of the dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam that is acceptable to all parties,” the statement said.

In early May, Feltman visited Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea and Ethiopia in a tour to discuss the GERD and regional issues after assuming his position in the region in late April.

Tensions have mounted in the past weeks after the latest trilateral round of talks in Kinshasa in April failed to produce an agreement to re-launch the deadlocked negotiations.

Ethiopia’s rejection of several proposals by Egypt and Sudan on the negotiation mechanism, which includes international quartet mediation, led to the collapse of the Kinshasa talks.

Last year, several rounds of AU-sponsored talks, under the chairmanship of South Africa, failed to break the deadlock between the three countries, as Addis Ababa refused to sign any legally binding agreement. - Ahram Online