Egypt threatens Ethiopia over Nile dam
Egypt does not want war with Ethiopia but will keep "all options open", Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi said on Monday, turning up the heat in a dispute over a giant dam Addis Ababa is building across the Nile.And guess who is going to finance this war if Egypt decides to prosecute it? Yes, that would be you, American Taxpayer.
In a televised speech to cheering Islamist supporters, Morsi voiced understanding for the development needs of poorer nations upstream in the Nile basin, but rammed home in emotive language that Egyptians will not accept any reduction in the flow of the river on which their civilisation has been based for millennia.
Bellicose rhetoric, including talk of military action by Egyptian politicians last week, had raised concerns of a "water war" between Africa's second and third most populous states.
But Morsi, for whom the dispute provides an opportunity to rally Egyptians behind him after a divisive first year in power, also appeared to leave room for compromise.
He did not renew an Egyptian call - flatly rejected by Ethiopia last week - for work to stop at the dam but said further study on its impact was needed.
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"Egypt's water security cannot be violated in any way," Morsi said. "As head of state, I confirm to you that all options are open." He later added: "We are not calling for war, but we will never permit our water security ... to be threatened." Drawing on an old Egyptian song about the Nile, he said: "If it diminishes by one drop then our blood is the alternative." Cairo had no objection to "development projects in the Nile Basin states", he added, "but on condition that those projects do not affect or damage Egypt's legal and historical rights".
Egypt, whose fast-growing population of 84 million uses almost all of the Nile's supply that reaches them to meet their needs, cites colonial-era treaties guaranteeing it the lion's share of the water to defend its position. Ethiopia, the second most populous state in Africa, says those claims are outdated.
Other African states south of the historic frontier of the Muslim Arab world - notably Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo - are also anxious to develop the water resources of the Nile Basin.
Labels: Egypt, Ethiopia, Nile River, water shortage
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:01 AM
2 Comments:
Egypt = greedy#Widemouth. We will see what can they do. If Sudan gives its air space to Egypt, that will be the end of Sudan as a country.
#87% Nile water is from Ethiopia but Egypt is demanding to take all this 87%. Do these guys have brain???
At this point in humanity's technological development, it seems counterintuitive for the huge coastal metros around the world to be draining the inland fresh water. Like coal to Newcastle. Or sand to the beach.
I'm wishing the brainiacs of the world (including Israelis and US) would continue the focus on biomed improvements, would axe the focus on anti-carbon Agenda 21 Green $lu$h and Big Brother $lu$h coercion, would expand the focus on cheap scrubbers and power plant process innovations, and would use the alt.energy, etc. for modular water desalination for these coastal cities.
But Power and Control of the masses seem to be more important than life-on-this-earth betterment.
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