Egypt demands Ethiopia halt Nile dam, upping stakes
Egyptian Blooper_ Politicians, Unaware They Are on Air, Threaten Ethiopia
over Dam Construction:
Leaked Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSxkori-tPw
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSxkori-tPw&feature=player_embedded>
&feature=player_embedded
June 6, 2013
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt will demand Ethiopia stop building a dam on one of
the main tributaries of the Nile, a senior government aide said on
Wednesday, ramping up a confrontation over the project that Egypt fears will
affect its main source of water.
Ethiopia set off alarm bells in Cairo last week when it began diverting a
stretch of the river to make way for the $4.7 billion hydroelectric plant.
Countries that share the river have argued over the use of its waters for
decades - and analysts have repeatedly warned that the disputes could
eventually boil over into war.
The high stakes involved were underlined on Monday when senior Egyptian
politicians were caught on camera advising President Mohamed Mursi to take
hostile action to stop the project, and one went as far as suggesting Cairo
destroy the dam.
Egypt, which has been involved in years of troubled diplomacy with Ethiopia
and other upstream countries, said Ethiopia must now halt work on the dam.
"Demanding that Ethiopia stop construction of the dam it plans to build on
the Blue Nile will be our first step," said Pakinam el-Sharkawy, the
presidential aide for political affairs, in comments carried on the state
news agency MENA.
"The national committee that will be formed to deal with this issue will
determine the steps that Egypt has to take."
No one from the Ethiopian government was immediately available to comment.
CAUGHT ON CAMERA
Senior Egyptian politicians called in to discuss the crisis with Mursi on
Monday were apparently unaware their meeting was being broadcast live on
television.
The leader of Egypt's Ghad party, Ayman Nour, suggested spreading false
reports that Egypt was building up its air power.
"We can 'leak' news information claiming that Egypt plans to buy advanced
aircraft to increase its aerial presence etc., to put pressure, even if not
realistic, on diplomatic discourse," he said.
Younis Makhyoun, leader of the Salafi Islamist al-Nour party, was filmed
saying Egypt should back rebels in Ethiopia or, as a last resort, destroy
the dam.
The broadcast triggered widespread ridicule, particularly among Egypt's vast
army of users of social networks.
"Among Mursi's achievements: the first 'secret' meeting in the world to be
aired live," read one joke that made the rounds.
Egypt has so far not apologised to Ethiopia for the broadcast -
el-Sharkawy's main response on Twitter was to say she was sorry members of
the meeting did not know they were being broadcast.
The most prominent expression of regret came from leading opposition figure
Mohamed ElBaradei, who was invited to the meeting but did not attend.
"Sincere apologies to the people and governments of Ethiopia and Sudan for
the irresponsible utterances at the president's national dialogue," he
tweeted.
Ethiopia has laid out plans to invest more than $12 billion in harnessing
the rivers that run through its rugged highlands to become Africa's leading
power exporter.
The centrepiece of the plan is the Grand Renaissance Dam being built in the
Benishangul-Gumuz region bordering Sudan. Now 21 percent complete, it will
eventually have a 6,000 megawatt capacity, the government says, equivalent
to six nuclear power plants.
Cairo argues that Ethiopia has not properly considered the dam's impact on
the river, saying that a report put together by experts from Egypt, Sudan
and Ethiopia is insufficient.
Received on Thu Jun 06 2013 - 13:59:27 EDT