it is not our job we only plan for the quality and legal imports the organization for quality and standards monitors goldsmiths all over iraq also we have offices at border crossings and airports to guarantee quality and reduce smuggling deep rooted corruption and a weak economy makes it easier for black market operators to move things across borders diplomatic sources told al-jazeera the due to lack security of crossings and enormousness is gold being smuggled from neighboring countries. and iraq's economic uncertainty leads to increased local demand despite the current coronavirus pandemic. this bar of gold costs about $55000.00 in today's market because of iraq security many families are investing in precious metals rather than keeping their money in dollars. from glittering religious sites to important social occasions iraqis have had a centuries old relationship with gold and the precious commodity is now a major economic entity they want the government to ensure it adds to the economy

rather than taking away from it some of the jar with al-jazeera fact that. xeljanz there are much now off the top stories meanwhile there are protests marking 2 months since the military seized the past few hours brisson has imposed sanctions in the meanwhile economic cooperation of major corporate companies and industries linked to the military for human rights violations for hardly has more from bangkok . we've seen what's been going on in the streets across myanmar with the military and security forces have been doing to crack down on the protesters but they have also started to engage in battling these ethnic armies that are peppered throughout mostly the north and in the border areas throughout myanmar and one of them is the qur'an qur'an area which is just across the border from thailand and over the weekend there are a couple of airstrikes there several airstrikes over several days that

sensibilities over here in thailand 7 veteran pro-democracy activists in hong kong have been convicted for taking part in an unauthorized protest in 2019 thanks to the media tycoon former legislators and a prominent democracy activist at least 30 people have been killed in ethiopia's or me a region gunmen are suspected of carrying out the attack on a village in the west where leaders own on wednesday witnesses have said some of the victims were ethnic as far as a bomb tech says it's vaccine is highly protective against the south african variant of corona virus the strain is caused concerns because of its resistance to some jabs pfizer has also released new to also showing its vaccine is overall 91 percent effective even after 6 months it's good news stay with us out of there up next is inside story.

no one can take a drop of water from president of a to his c.c. as if g.o.p. a insists on failing a controversial ny dam it was the consequences will be felt across the region does that mean he would go to war and has diplomacy right now this is inside story. hello welcome to the program. shout of the nile river water is

untouchable and if that supply is affected by the theo paean grande run a sense that there will be severe gentle consequences that's the warning by the egyptian president has country is in a year's long dispute with if the opiah over the hydro power project it is building the $5000000000.00 mega dam on the blue nile river downstream country is. a concern that could affect their access to water they want a legally binding agreement over the dams operations but talks to resolve the standoff have stalled over the past decade if the o.p.'s daughter to fill the dams reservoir last year with no deal in place it insists its neighbors won't be harmed and the dam is important to its economic development. no one can take a single drop of water from egypt and whoever wants to try it let them try i'm not

threatening anyone here our dialogue is always reasonable and rational no one can take a drop from egypt's water and if it happens there will be inconceivable instability in the region there's been a push for talks on the dam dispute to move forward the us have shown they're ready to mediate their own voice matt sudan's sovereign council chief general abdul fatah had one hand on monday that came after saddam proposed mediation by a quartet of the african union the e.u. the un and the u.s. the suggestion was supported by egypt but rejected by if the opiah the us own voice senator chris coons and is the o.p.'s foreign minister helle talks over the regional tensions earlier this month and the foreign ministers of age of sudan and if the opiah are expected to meet in a will of the next week the dispute mainly centers on the speed at

which the reservoir behind the dam is filled among other differences over how much water if your people were released downstream if drought lasting years occur. and sudan demand a binding agreement on the downs operation while if the opiah insist on guidelines alone edge of depends on the nile river for almost all of its water it fears a rapid filling of the reservoir would severely restrict the flow of the nile so dan wants if the o.p.'s to share data of the downs operation to avoid flooding protect its own dams if the o.p.'s says the hydroelectric power produces is important to me the energy needs of millions of ethiopians lacks stable electricity supplies when fully operational that down will become the largest hydroelectric plant in africa.

let's bring in our guests in nairobi william davison a senior if you appear analyst at international crisis group in london and that is president of the world association for sustainable development in oslo guy term gabrielle is a political analyst focusing on the horn of africa what into the program well this is not the 1st time that egypt has warned of repercussions if there is no political progress on the issue of the day are they serious this time show that if you can take into consideration the latest statement by president of the c.c. . it's not clear exactly what is new about be egyptian positioning certainly this alarming rhetoric rare but of course the president also said that this is not a threat i mean i think ultimately this looks very much like a repeat of the situation last year when he did the 1st years filling of the

reservoir of them in a sense that we have this 2nd failing shuttled to occur probably in july according to these here can shed your and again we are seeing tensions rise in advance of that and yes there is. threatening rhetoric here i think most people would judge but it isn't really that clear you know what has changed except substantively in terms of the situation so i don't really expect ethiopia to change its position which is to proceed with the construction and the filling of the dam along with. along with construction as it and gauges in these continued negotiations i learn the egyptian cab at the back the other issues all the table could that be an indication that we might see any confrontation in the near future as there is no tangible result as far as the political process is concerned. thank you very much

just to follow up on my colleague i think what's new with a you should have used this sort of thing language before donald trump a must before he left office he said that i went i was commenting he said eve could use force that i'm in issue here that this is more of that style of that you should negotiation has all in be like this do you expect confrontation i don't expect confrontation because of the general situation in very young even within egypt itself sudan and as you'll be a is not favoring that confrontation but we will continue to do the same and to hear such sit ending tone and i expect i hope the sudanese government also relieved him but he did bit too much the stand before they did she is so that we can have a level bleed off of voices so they can take it more seriously that they may but it's not sitting there silent accepting what they're doing yes finally i think

this is the issues reason even though she isn't even i know there are going to be maybe you know end of negotiations in the next few weeks but 3 he has a book online he still remained the same people should go back to their own region and questions their land is a disputed land. still claiming these no one is listening to them that amount of force there is going to be bumped into the still at all almost technical experts have refused going saying it would kill people we're talking about isn't this of people both supporting the sudan because the capacities being argued is quite high many scientists have so far said it should only be you know been. a 1000000000 cubic meters and we need if you'll be at to listen seriously at these time don't beat up their technique or 5 so people can go forward and we can save life. this particular point what do you think is the main sticking point is it the thinning of

the reservoir and how much time should that take we have this whole argument between 12 to 21 years as the egyptians are saying. the at the o.p.'s are insisting . i think the main sticking point is to for egypt to reach a binding agreement before. the feeling continues once it's filled it will be able have the upper hand and can negotiate from from a position of strength. but i think we have to consider the recent political dynamics job as currently conducting what looks like a genocidal war on its own people so given that it has been behaving this year responsibly. it is understandable that both khartoum and cairo are worried and that they want. they don't want to give up the lifeline of their people

to such an irresponsible regime and that they want binding legal mechanism that can regulate how this down is is is operationalized so we need to consider political damages as well all right so the reservoir can reach something like 74000000000 cubic meters that's going to be used leverage for the if european government in the near future in the meantime the cities of the egyptians are saying wait a 2nd we need the issiah which is the environment or social impact assessment to be implemented and he has to be binding before we move forward in-between of this to a key aspect how do you see things unfolding. well with regards to the impact assessment that's certainly been a focus of controversy throughout this the lifespan of construction which began in 2010 what we're really looking at now is an agreement about the feeling and

operating rules or guidelines of the renaissance that yes it is a large dam but if it's managed cooperatively. then there is no reason for necessarily to cause significant harm downstream which is a key phrase here ethiopia has set out the filling shed you will and if there is average or above average rain in the blue nile basin over the next 5 years it will fill the dam with something like a 5th of the average flow of the blue nile being impounded every year if the rush or to tj's in any given year the length of time it will take to fill the dam will be extended by a couple of years so there is a plan and there of course what this is really about is getting the political agreement and building trust so that it g.o.p. or building this dam and backing up all that water as you mentioned is not seen as

a threat and of course this comes down to the nitty gritty of what's being argued here people talk about a binding agreement on not i think if you're to is willing to sign up to it willing to make a commitment on the filling shed you will hear what ethiopia is not willing to do is get into any sort of agreement which it considers to be a water sharing agreement and it is also not willing to get into an agreement on its own dam where international arbitration is the final phase in any dispute resolution all right 1st set here if you want those water sharing issues to be discussed by all not all basin countries and that gets to some of the sort of underlying disagreement about this this is one that this is way getting a lot complicated. with the time i love you spoke about the concerns voiced by sudan and it's of particular comes to the flooding and the water downstream but when you talk to the europeans they would tell you that. there highlands

particularly the blue nile and the atbara both of which are major tributaries that contributes something like 80 percent of the water there go the flows downstream and therefore it's a legitimate white from an ethiopian perspective to have a final say over how to move forward. i think that's a point but in color in response to that point out as a more critical boys need to be considered the land itself where the dam is being built it has been this beauty it it's a not so far we hear it strongly is wrong to be an issue in court this is a big sudanese these are sudanese bieber this is it learnt how he's being given and how is it down was being built is all 6 to do with them the former again which was 100 percent documented by the whole waited as a corrupt regime so we've got to take that into we have to take that into account secondly all scientists they said earlier said the way it's being discussed or the

technical fighters or the technical and make up of this make a project is looked up and for anyone to check it know it could stand there or indeed been very few cation of how he's going to operate so far what we hear any more than 11000000 cubic metres should be dangerous to kill people down history in particular in sudan no one is listening to all these facts so we have to deal with these facts fareast before we can talk about it vital mental issues to do with aid is highlander hollow going to scumming from your city but these are serious questions and i have said this from last year if we do not to go back to basic and b.n. government is willing to open up 0 fines for technical exhibition in order to see how can we save the lives of the sudan if that you see and i'm already bored of this europeans and self there's lots of conflict decided to be about the way the

government is behaving here and finally i think this is a fact we cannot ignore it we have talking about a project already sent built we all understand that but that's where come find a solution to such massive investment we've got to sit down see look at what can we do is a huge amount be. in it to be sent through to complete it what can we do but all right only sick about. once the government of this year will be as willing and accepting international even didn't expect to be there this is why they are concerned about issues of the related to national sovereignty as they are being saying go ahead now you've been talking about the internal issues that if europe is facing but if your peers will tell you that the 1929 and the 959 agreements were. a legacy of a colonial era where the whites of the earth your peers were never taken into consideration and the dam itself is

a reality of of the sudanese and the egyptians have to deal with the sudanese in particular are in favor of the involvement of the african union the the united nations and the us could that be pro productive. yes overall i think we need to consider the 2 principles of international law that apply so the colonial agreements are nolen void in my view and so one principle is that if you have to have the right to develop its own resources within its territories it's a matter of sovereignty now sudan and egypt have come a long way from initially not recognizing that to now accepting that if you're bad the right to build a dam. the other principle is of course that if you have or can cause any significant harm to dallas' your country now since the 2 countries have come a long way to recognize if europe as

a right to develop its resources it is now incumbent upon if europe to also recognize its responsibility not to cause significant harm and that is a legal issue and it's not so much about what's happening today. seen from cairo in khartoum as perspective you know 20 years from now they must have some sort of reassurances that whoever is in charge in ethiopia is not going to utilize those resources to negatively impact khartoum in cairo so they must have a say in how this is operationalizing the future. this is not merely a sovereignty issue i mean we have to balance those 2 considerations. and i believe a quartet mediation is the right approach for that but but william this is the problem with what we have all those key players step in the different political

agendas playing out of bed they are concerned that if you have all those parties coming together the potential for any solution to the problem by tick ages because the simple issue here is you have a dam which has been racked out of the blue not widely seen as an existential threat by the egyptian government if you have the 3 key players sudan it's of of if the o.p.'s working out the details of a permanent agreement that could help without having to go to all those potties. yes of course negotiations have been going on for some time and the increased international concern focus on this issue is a result of the failure to agree and you know that said last year of course the u.s. the trumpet ministration got heavily involved and the ethiopians backed out of that deal and they said there was too much international pressure being applied here i mean at the moment the fight is with the african union there is huge amounts of concern about the failure to agree on the renaissance than also about the tensions

between sudan and ethiopia on the border 'd also very much ethiopia's internal situation particularly the take rate conflict i think increasingly you know these big international actors particularly the new u.s. administration is looking at the horn of africa and as as i've said are very concerned but i don't think taking over or trying to reformulate the mediation or the negotiations at this point is going to be successful because i don't think that ethiopia is going to agree to that instead what i think we might see is an expanded role for the african union for technical experts and perhaps for observers from the e.u. and the us in these african union led negotiations but i don't think at this stage we're going to see a significant reformulation of how this is mediated you spoke about some of the concerns boys by the sudanese government about the facility to words to the project about concerns of flooding but others would tell you that the city is. ultimately may be the ones to benefit from that they will get less flooding cheaper

electricity and easier irrigation which is going to be pretty much very well planned ahead. yes that's the point being san facing for the last time for many for a long time but that to tell you the truth i am following the sudanese government data scientists professors people who are in the forefront of this irrigation down south and top project money and you need and so on all of them seems to agree despite all of these assumptions without knowing the real technical makeup of the bra jex we cannot guarantee we will get these benefit because instead of getting good your figures and level of law although i can see your mission we might get flooding and then we end up having or people being dying on along there on the river but the 2nd important thing. we don't know exactly what is happening in sudan this is another major issue we cannot ignore it the government are fortunate these

2 down and that transitional government has been shut there they haven't taken control of really any of this far and we have been doing many expensive the same they are we don't know exactly how they are tackling this every time them a different viewpoint technically our fortunately the sudanese own minister of education they are not listening to be many many groups within the same country professor whatever she said is a well known academics professor he's an mit graduate drops like this really bright i have got to hardly see the government listening to him i myself have argued for the minister to listen to sudanese exits off like we have brought that money just like dr michael might just that some people that look this in it does and therefore we can look very fine with us is that we're really going to benefit our board be able to sue donald not let and that's got only be very fight if our only give me it's got to be listened to by the current so that is government and zen we have

more transparency and follow this up but in front of our expense then we can say yes it's going to benefit our people that i have to have it by i have to look. if you don't think. that's the life of the sudan you people should be also treated like a red line like that you share a brown minister and the president yes that is it ok this is going to let you slide yes i see your point is that it a lot you go to me spoke earlier about the problems that if the opiah faces were talking about the issue and also the border confrontations with sudan over the facade border area those 2 issues do you think they will stand as a major obstacle for be ahmed if he decides to take an aggressive stance in the near future. absolutely i mean the way we got here in the 1st place the way ethiopia was able to challenge egypt's monopoly on the night before or all these years was 1st of all that ethiopia consolidated its power internally and secondly

it developed good relations with its neighbors notably sudan and sudan support for this dam was essential and there was no way for egypt to sort of destabilize ethiopia or to actually do anything to reverse this process obviously it has changed both those factors significantly over the last 3 years internally cunt the country's internal you know significant chunks of the country are either in. are either rebel held territories or under occupation or foreign armies or military command post their insurgencies in different parts of the country. by his own admission if you have as military capacities significantly depleted integral i why he needs to use a chance or as mercenaries to to fight his wars into gray. and secondly

of course the key factor in this in this process was relations with sudan which have also broken down which means if europe has very little leverage left in this in this i see your point situation what. ultimately that would have to go ahead of the if the appeals are insisting this is an issue of national sovereignty no one is expecting to see any minister confront issues the egyptian would have to cross the . space of sudan to bomb that if that happens that could because a strike force itself in the meantime no one is talking about water management schemes about the recycling of the waste water about the need for egyptians themselves to set up discipline nation plans and understand. this is a new chart uncharted territory and they have to cope with the new realities i think those things are being talked about whether it's in egypt whether it's for the water better your water efficiency throughout the now or basin more water

storage more efficient irrigation and that type of thing it just so happens that the bet that the debate is very much focused on on this dam at the moment and of course you know this dam yes it could cause harm downstream in sadar and if it's managed in a certain way but it could reduce flooding in sadar and boost their occasion electricity potential and it doesn't have to cause harm in egypt at all the issue is that this type of project this type of trend project project with a transparently impact it has to be cooperatively managed. and this failure to end this preoccupation. with the renaissance than looking only at the potential harm you can cause and the worse think political tensions is of course your to the detriment of focusing on water saving or a more overall a wider ranging corporative arrangement that germany would have to live in the thanks to all guests william davis and. go to them go.

and thank you too for what you can see the program again any time by visiting our website www dot com for further discussion go to our facebook page that's facebook dot com forward slash a.j. inside story can also join the conversation on twitter handle is a.j. inside story from the hotshot about the entire team here in doha by for now. it's a very bleak picture for a lot of americans out there of white supremacy in fact all of our patients you're putting more money into the hands of someone taking money out of the hands of other

workers that will goes to their camp it becomes a us versus them this is the deal about constraining your nuclear program the bottom line the big questions on out is there from the al-jazeera london broil cost center to people in thoughtful conversation i got much less races than when i was at the university of oxford it was really scared me because i was like these people are going to be in positions of power with no host and no limitations empire is the reason that we live in a multicultural society part 2 of pfizer's shaheen and adam rather fit studio unscripted on his era. we tout the untold stories. we speak when office. the couple who side. no matter where it takes us a pretty familiar feel of syria got

a marriage and power. and pasha please tell your stories we are your voice your news your net al-jazeera. this is al jazeera i'm doubting obligato with a check on your world headlines mean mars the pose civilian leader and son sujit has been charged with violating a colonial era official secrets act it carries a penalty of up to 14 years in prison suchi has been detained since the coup in february and has not been seen in public since meanwhile protesters are back on the streets marking 2 months.