Jun 06 2013
GlobalPost: Egypt, Ethiopia butt heads over Nile diversion; Morsi gaffe draws Ethiopian scorn
A Nile dam project has Ethiopia and Egypt butting heads and has already led to a major gaffe by Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi that could threaten relations between the two nations.
The dispute stems from a plan to divert the Blue Nile by 550 yards off its natural course in order for Ethiopia to build a dam.
The Blue Nile is one of two tributaries of the Nile, which Egypt and Sudan both sit upstream from.
Ethiopia has denied that the shift will affect water levels in Egypt and Sudan, since they rely heavily on the river for their water supply.
“There is no problem with the river levels,” said Addis Tadele, spokesman for the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo).
Egypt and Sudan recently held meetings in Cairo to discuss the project, with the former opposing the project and the latter satisfied with guarantees from the Ethiopian government.
Egyptian politicians have also held what they thought to be secret meetings about the project.
However, a scandal emerged after Egyptian political heavyweights, not realizing they were live on-air, began discussing ways to sabotage the dam project.
Ayman Nour, the head of Egypt’s Ghad party, suggested pressuring Ethiopia by announcing a purchase of war planes and interfering covertly in Ethiopia’s domestic affairs.
He also criticized Sudan’s perceived soft stance on the issue, reported the Telegraph.
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One Response to “GlobalPost: Egypt, Ethiopia butt heads over Nile diversion; Morsi gaffe draws Ethiopian scorn”
World knows that Ethiopia is running for growth and development. Our country never gone and goes to bring hardship to downstream countries specially for Egypt and Sudan. Our Government with no dought knows that these two countries have no any other alternatives of getting water. But everybody must know that our country has the right to use the Nile water like Sudan and Egypt are using. On the other hand when i said this i am not saying our government is foolish and goes to stand on the throats of Sudan and Egypt people. These people are our brothers and sisters. All we/ Egyptians,Sudanese and Ethiopians/ are using water from one river, river Nile. So we have to use it fairly.