Dubai: Sudan may begin exporting fresh water from the River Nile to Saudi Arabia, local media quoted officials as saying.
The director of the Water Commission in the state of Khartoum, Gawdat Allah Osman was reported by the Sudan Tribune as saying that the country plans to export fresh water to Gulf Arab states in the future depending on the availability of water from the Nile.
The utility cited a Saudi study last December as the premise for such a move. The study reportedly proposed the creation of a pilot project to import water from Sudan to replenish depleted groundwater reserves in the Najran region of the kingdom in collaboration with the Saudi ministries of agriculture, water and electricity.
“The study underscored the importance for Saudi Arabia to look at water as a global and regional problem, and activation of regional and international cooperation to resolve it by importing water in accordance with international agreements,” the Sudan Tribune said.
The paper suggested a plan proposed by a cleric to export water to the kingdom in return for oil.
Saudi Arabia and Sudan have had a rocky relationship, particularly since Sudan has been seen in recent years as getting close to Iran.
Sudan’s foreign minister however granted a Saudi newspaper an interview last week making assurances that his country’s relations with Iran are “normal”, indicating that he was open to improving ties with Riyadh, and that Sudan does not support the Muslim Brotherhood, which the kingdom has banned.
