An Egyptian Foreign Ministry official called on Addis Ababa to stop what Cairo believes to be the provocation of crises between the two countries against the backdrop of Ethiopian accusations in October  that Cairo supports the anti-government Oromo ethnic group.

The two countries have been at loggerheads since Ethiopia started to construct the Grand Ethipian Renaissance Ethiopian Dam, which Egypt fears could reduce its share of Nile water.

“Addis Ababa knows well that Egypt has nothing to do with internal events in Ethiopia, but its attempts to involve Egypt’s name in the internal events it is going through will not be of use,” the Egyptian official told the UAE-based media outlet “24”.

“[Egyptian] relations with Ethiopia – no matter how they witness tensions – are historic relations … and cannot be ignored,” he added.

The Egyptian official denied allegations made by Ethiopian Foreign Minister Workenh Gebeyehu on Monday that Cairo supports the Oromo opposition group. He also said that “accusations” made by Addis Ababa “harm” the bilateral relations, adding that such relations improved under Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

“Ethiopia has no evidence on Egypt’s involvement in such activity, and Ethiopian refugees in Egypt, like all refugees, respect the laws that regulate their residence, which ban political activities,” he added.