ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) - The foreign ministers of Egypt and Ethiopia say their countries have agreed to start consultations aimed at resolving their conflict over Ethiopia s huge dam on the Blue Nile River.

The ministers said in a joint statement Tuesday that they had "agreed to embark on consultations at the technical and political levels."

The statement said such consultations would be in "a spirit of brotherly relations and mutual understanding."

Egypt s foreign minister arrived in Ethiopia on Sunday for talks with his Ethiopian counterpart amid a war of words over the dam. Egypt fears the project will diminish its share of Nile River waters.

Ethiopia last month started to divert Nile waters to make way for its massive $4.2 billion hydro-electric dam dubbed the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, sparking concerns in Egypt.