DUBAI (Reuters) -Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Thursday agreed on initiating urgent negotiations to finalize an agreement between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan on the filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and the rules of its operations, a joint statement said.

The statement mentioned the two leaders will make all the necessary efforts to finalize the agreement in four months.

Egypt and Ethiopia, Sudan's two largest neighbours, have been at odds in recent years over the construction of the huge hydroelectric dam on the Blue Nile, close to the border with Sudan.

(Reporting by Mohamed Hendawy, Writing by Clauda Tanios; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Angus MacSwan)