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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Wed Mar 30 2011 - 14:24:03 EST
Ethiopia to defy Egypt and build huge Nile dam
Wed Mar 30, 2011 4:57pm GMT
* Claims Egypt is blocking dam funding
* Ethiopia says resolve at "point of no return"
* Analysts fear world's first war over water
By Barry Malone
ADDIS ABABA, March 30 (Reuters) - Ethiopia on Wednesday said it planned to
build a huge dam on the Nile despite a long-running row with Egypt over use
of the river and concern the dispute may spark a war.
The nine countries through which the river passes have for more than a
decade been locked in often bitter talks to renegotiate colonial-era
treaties that gave Egypt and Sudan the lion's share of the river's waters.
However, six of the nine upstream countries -- Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda,
Rwanda, Tanzania and Burundi -- have signed a new deal stripping Egypt of
its veto and agreeing to renegotiate how much water each country is entitled
to.
"The Great Nile dam construction is scheduled to commence presently near the
Ethio-Sudan border," Water and Energy Minister Alemayehu Tegenu told a news
conference. "From this dam alone, Ethiopia expects to generate 5,250MW."
The Horn of Africa nation aims to produce 15,000 megawatts (MW) of power
within 10 years, part of a plan to spend $12 billion over 25 years to
improve the country's power-generating capability.
Alemayehu said Ethiopia would be forced to finance the $4.78 billion dam
from its own coffers and from the sale of government bonds because Egypt was
pressuring donor countries and international lenders not to fund its dam
projects.
POINT OF NO RETURN
"Those bent on deterring the development of the Nile have not yet changed
their obstructionist ways. Alas, Ethiopia's resolve has now reached a point
of no return," Alemayehu said.
He said tenders for consultancy contracts would soon be open to
international bidders and that Ethiopian engineers would start work soon on
the dam, expected to take 44 months to complete.
In November, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told Reuters that Egypt
was backing rebel groups in his country because of the Nile dispute and that
if it went to war with upstream countries over the river it would lose.
Egypt says it will ignore the new deal signed by upstream states, even
though it is now legally binding with six signatures.
Analysts say that the ousting of Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak and the
impending secession of South Sudan have strengthened the case of the
upstream nations.
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has not signed the deal and, when South
Sudan becomes independent in July, there will be ten Nile countries.
Analysts expect South Sudan and DRC to support the new agreement.
Tegenu said the Ethiopian government had commissioned an independent survey
that proved the new dam would benefit Egypt and Sudan by decreasing
siltation in their irrigation projects and by reducing water wastage.
Under the original pact Egypt, which faces possible water shortages by 2017,
is entitled to 55.5 billion cubic metres a year from the Nile's total flow
of around 84 billion cubic metres. (Editing by Richard Lough)
C Thomson Reuters 2011 All rights reserved
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Ethiopian police thwart protest at Israeli embassy
Wed Mar 30, 2011 5:32pm GMT
* Ethiopia is home to less than 10,000 Jews
* Association based in Addis Ababa numbers 2,000
* Israel doubts their Jewish origin
ADDIS ABABA, March 30 (Reuters) - Ethiopian police on Wednesday injured
about 50 people planning to protest outside the Israeli embassy in Addis
Ababa to seek resettlement as Jews, a representative of the protesters'
said.
The attacks occurred when police stormed into a makeshift synagogue where
500 members of the Association of Ethiopian Jews in Addis Ababa had gathered
to plan demonstrations, said Sisay Birhan, the association's secretary.
Israel announced last year that it was resettling 7,800 Ethiopian Jews from
the northern city of Gondar, where a thriving community once existed, but
has turned down all applications from the group in the capital.
"We have around 50 injured, including one who is fighting for his life,"
Sisay told Reuters.
The association has some 2,000 members.
"We were there to organise our next move. We planned to distribute leaflets
and march towards the embassy," he said. "Police then barged in and beat
some of the participants."
Ethiopian authorities were not immediately available for comment.
Denying accusations they are Jewish imposters, the group's members say they
moved to the capital in the mid-1990s with the hope of fast-tracking their
move to the middle-eastern nation.
Over 100,000 Ethiopian Jews already live in Israel, a vast majority of them
airlifted in the 1980s and 1990s after a rabbinical creed ruled they were
descendents of the biblical Dan tribe.
Israeli officials say most of those left behind are imposters seeking entry
under the guise of religion. (Writing by Aaron Maasho; editing by Richard
Lough and Philippa Fletcher)
C Thomson Reuters 2011 All rights reserved
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