US envoy in Egypt for talks on Ethiopia’s dam dispute

The U.S. envoy for the Horn of Africa on Wednesday met with the Egyptian president as part of Washington’s new push to find a resolution to a regional decade-long dispute over Ethiopia’s massive dam on the Nile River’s main tributary.

Jeffrey Feltman arrived in Cairo on Tuesday on the first leg of a tour that includes stops in Eritrea, Ethiopia and Sudan amid growing concerns the dispute could escalate into a military conflict, threatening the entire region.

Ethiopia’s Tigray Conflict: Six Months On and No End in Sight

A “dirty war” with no fronts that was causing suffering for “defenseless victims”.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has told Congress that “ethnic cleansing” is unfolding in western Tigray, with Amharas driving out Tigrayans 

“Further deterioration is expected as the conflict continues and disrupts the next planting season,” the UN said Tuesday.

U.S. Africa Envoy: Ethiopia Crisis Could Make Syria Look Like ‘Child’s Play’

Jeffrey Feltman, the new American envoy to the Horn of Africa, faces a cascade of overlapping challenges in the region.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday formally named Feltman to the post, where he will become Washington’s lead troubleshooter for a deadly conflict in the Tigray region of Ethiopia that has sparked a massive humanitarian crisis and widespread allegations of war crimes.

Biden appoints special envoy for Horn of Africa amid conflict in Ethiopia

Blinken had stated the necessity of appointing a full-time senior official to focus on the region in a hearing with lawmakers last month. 

The Biden administration has condemned reports of atrocities committed in Ethiopia’s Tigray region and is engaged in trying to resolve ongoing regional disputes over a massive dam project.