<
http://www.bikyamasr.com/80090/ethiopia-and-egypt-continue-fight-for-nile-w
ater/> Ethiopia and Egypt continue fight for Nile water
<
http://www.bikyamasr.com/author/admin-2/> Joseph Mayton and Mohammad Awad
| 17 October 2012 |
CAIRO and ADDIS ABABA: With the first-ever Nile Basin Initiative (NBI)
report on the status of the Nile River, the situation between Egypt and
Ethiopia and the angst between the two foes finally has some statistics and
analysis to deal with. However, it is unlikely to see any changes in the
current policies that have both countries eying future water resources along
the world's longest river.
Top Ethiopia government officials have told Bikyamasr.com that they are
looking at jumpstarting the massive Renaissance Dam project along the Nile
River in an effort to increase water resources and energy for the East
African country.
The moves could threaten the regional stability after the Egyptian
government said it remained "concerned" over Ethiopia's actions along the
Nile River.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has also called on Addis Ababa to push
the dam project to the backburner in order to focus on other economic
initiatives.
While Cairo has denied any intention of attacking the dam, as reported by
whistleblower website Wikileaks, the country's Water Resources and
Irrigation Minister Mohamed Bahaa el-Din said last month that his country
was maintaining its concerns about the construction of the Renaissance Dam
in Ethiopia.
He did say that officials at the Ethiopia foreign ministry "assured Egypt
and Sudan that in case there was any impact on their water quota to the dam,
other projects will be carried out to collect lost water and cover
shortages."
It is the latest in the ongoing battle for the world's largest river's
water, with Egypt and Sudan continuing to remain obstinate in amending any
of the colonial treaties that guarantee their countries with a lion's share
of water from the Nile.
Wikileaks released documents this month that revealed Egypt and Sudan had
been planning to attack an Ethiopian dam project to "protect" their rights
over Nile water based on colonial era treaties.
In documents revealed by Wikileaks, the Egyptian and Sudanese government
appeared ready to develop a launching pad for an attack by Egypt against the
dam.
Wikileaks has leaked files allegedly from the Texas-based global
intelligence company, Stratfor, which quote an anonymous "high-level
Egyptian source," which reported that the Egyptian ambassador to Lebanon
said in 2010 that Egypt "would do anything to prevent the secession of South
Sudan because of the political implications it will have for Egypt's access
to the Nile."
Ethiopia's massive dam project has seen much concern from Cairo and
Khartoum, who fear the establishment of Africa's largest dam would affect
previous colonial deals on Nile water-sharing.
It is to be built some 40 kilometers upstream from Sudan on the Blue Nile.
But even before the official announcement of Ethiopia's prime minister's
passing on August 20, Egyptian officials told Bikyamasr.com that they
believed a post-Meles region could bring forth new negotiations and
compromise over Nile water.
An Egyptian ministry of water and irrigation told Bikyamasr.com last month,
two weeks before Zenawi was pronounced dead, that with the combination of
Egypt's new President Morsi and the potential of seeing a new leader in
Ethiopia, they hoped the tension over Nile River water could be resolved.
"While this can in no way be official policy at this point, I believe that
there would be more maneuvering with a new leadership in Ethiopia because
there would be the ability to communicate and not be seen as antagonistic,"
the official said, adding that they were not authorized to speak to the
media.
"Let us be frank about the situation between Egypt and other Nile
countries," the official continued. "We in Egypt have not been the best at
compromise so I think overall, there is so much that can be done to help
bring countries together, and Ethiopia has been a leader in its criticism of
Egypt so starting there would be good."
With the Nile comes a new set of issues, and with Egypt holding onto a
lion's share of water from the world's largest river, upstream countries
such as Ethiopia have taken it on their own to begin building dams and other
water related endeavors, much to the anger of Cairo.
However, officials hope that solutions can be had in the new post-revolution
Egypt that could see the growing tension between countries along the Nile
reduce.
"While Egypt never wants to mingle in another country's affairs, a new
leadership in Ethiopia would go a long way to changing how things are run,
just like it has in Egypt," the official added.
Received on Wed Oct 17 2012 - 19:41:27 EDT
