tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83875136347720478212024-02-21T21:49:46.203-08:00Mega Dams In the Horn of Africa Killing Rivers Mega Damming of the Life giving waters of Ethiopia. This process is menacing the existence of the inhabitants of the region by drying the sources and lakes. The main reason advertised for damming is for production of Electricity and exporting energy. This could be done by small human level dams.The underlying reason is to the irrigation for the great land grabbing for cash crop exportation for financial speculators. Moreover, such mega projects leads to undue water crisis.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger470125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387513634772047821.post-74783232558932130182021-05-05T02:39:00.000-07:002021-05-05T02:39:06.510-07:00 War Drum On the Ethiopia Dam! የጦርነት ነጋሪት በኢትዮጵያ ግድብ ላይ! <p> <span style="color: #980000; font-family: Pacifico, cursive; font-size: 24pt; font-weight: 700; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: underline; white-space: pre-wrap;">War Drum On the Ethiopian Dam! </span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-8e4d2639-7fff-fbdd-ca82-a3fd6e38352b"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1.- </span><a href="https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/04/egypt-sudan-hold-military-exercise-amid-crisis-ethiopia" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #3d4594; font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Egypt-Sudan hold military exercise amid crisis with Ethiopia</span></a><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - </span><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Al-Monitor</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2.- </span><a href="https://sputniknews.com/africa/202104081082571018-grand-ethiopian-renaissance-dam-all-options-open-egypt-warns-after-another-collapse-in-talks/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #3d4594; font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam: 'All Options Open', Egypt Warns After Another Collapse in Talks</span></a><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - </span><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sputnik Int</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3.- </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxn8kHucovo" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #3d4594; font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">'All options are on the table': Egypt's president warns on Ethiopian dam </span></a><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- The National</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4.- </span><a href="https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2907901/us-ethiopia-discuss-importance-continued-regional-dialogue-gerd" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #3d4594; font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">US, Ethiopia Discuss Importance of Continued Regional Dialogue on GERD</span></a><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - Asharq Al-awsat - </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5.- </span><a href="https://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2021/04/sudan-says-nile-dam-talks-end-without-progress-due-to-ethiopian-obstinacy/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #3d4594; font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sudan says Nile dam talks end without progress due to “Ethiopian obstinacy”</span></a><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - </span><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Capital FM Kenya</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6.- </span><a href="https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2015/02/egypt-nile-water-south-sudan-development-projects.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #3d4594; font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Egypt supports South Sudan to secure Nile share</span></a><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - </span><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Al-Monitor</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7.- </span><a href="https://qz.com/1709757/climate-change-threatens-the-niles-critical-water-supply/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #3d4594; font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Climate change threatens the Nile's critical water supply</span></a><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - </span><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Quartz</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">8.- </span><a href="https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/1/100744/How-will-the-second-filling-of-the-Grand-Ethiopian-Renaissance" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #3d4594; font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How will the second filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance</span></a><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/1/100744/How-will-the-second-filling-of-the-Grand-Ethiopian-Renaissance" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #3d4594; font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dam harm Egyptians?</span></a><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Egypttoday</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">9.-</span><a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ethiopia-vows-to-defy-threats-from-neighbours-and-fill-mega-dam-ztzldwmvt" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #3d4594; font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ethiopia vows to defy threats from neighbours and fill mega-dam</span></a><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- </span><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Times</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">10- </span><a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210410-renaissance-dam-houthis-propose-mediation-for-ethiopia-sudan-egypt/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #3d4594; font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Renaissance Dam: Houthis propose mediation for Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt</span></a><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - Middle East Monitor</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">11.- </span><a href="https://dailynewsegypt.com/2021/04/10/ethiopia-invites-egypt-sudan-to-nominate-operators-in-data-exchange-on-gerds-2nd-filling/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #3d4594; font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ethiopia invites Egypt, Sudan to nominate operators in data exchange</span></a><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="https://dailynewsegypt.com/2021/04/10/ethiopia-invites-egypt-sudan-to-nominate-operators-in-data-exchange-on-gerds-2nd-filling/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #3d4594; font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">on GERD's 2nd filling</span></a><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - </span><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Daily News Egypt</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">12.- </span><a href="https://dailynewsegypt.com/2021/04/10/egypt-rejects-ethiopian-invitation-to-exchange-data-on-second-gerd-filling/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #3d4594; font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Egypt rejects Ethiopian invitation to exchange data on second GERD filling</span></a><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 15pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - </span><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Daily News Egypt</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 15pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">13.- </span><a href="https://www.jpost.com/opinion/dam-crisis-options-at-hand-for-egypt-opinion-664764" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #3d4594; font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dam crisis: Options at hand for Egypt - opinion</span></a><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - </span><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Jerusalem Post</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">14.-</span><a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/mena/egypt/nile-dam-sudan-says-ethiopia-info-sharing-offer-suspicious-1.1200965" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #3d4594; font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nile dam crisis: Egypt and Sudan reject 'suspicious' Ethiopian proposal</span></a><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - </span><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The National</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">15.-</span><a href="https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2021/9-april/news/world/archbishop-of-alexandria-warns-that-dam-project-has-reached-a-potentially-dangerous-phase" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #3d4594; font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Archbishop of Alexandria warns that dam project has reached a 'potentially dangerous' phase</span></a><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - </span><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Church Times</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">16.- </span><a href="https://english.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2021/4/8/egypt-uganda-sign-security-agreement-as-sisi-warns-ethiopia" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #3d4594; font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Egypt, Uganda sign security cooperation agreement as Sisi warns Ethiopia over Nile dam</span></a><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The New Arab</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">17.- </span><a href="https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/04/08/649005/Egypt%E2%80%99s-Sisi-threatens-Ethiopia-with-war-over-Nile-dam" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #3d4594; font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Egypt's Sisi threatens Ethiopia with war over Nile dam </span></a><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - </span><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">PRESSTV</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">18.- </span><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-04-08/a-cold-war-is-brewing-on-the-blue-nile" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #3d4594; font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A Cold War is Brewing on the Blue Nile</span></a><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - </span><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bloomberg</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">19.-</span><a href="https://themedialine.org/mideast-daily-news/tensions-mount-in-north-africa-after-dam-talks-end-in-failure/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #3d4594; font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tensions Mount in North Africa After Dam Talks End in Failure</span></a><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - </span><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Media Line</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">20.-</span><a href="https://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202104/07/WS606ced78a31024ad0bab3dcb.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #3d4594; font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Negotiations over GERD dispute fail to reach agreement</span></a><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">China daily USA</span></p><div><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://youtu.be/s_hn4435xvg" target="_blank">Ethiopianism.tv War Drum On the Ethiopian Dam! የጦርነት ነጋሪት በኢትዮጵያ ግድብ ላይ! Apr 16, 2021-15</a><br /></span></div></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387513634772047821.post-39090900914942062912020-06-24T01:16:00.003-07:002020-06-24T02:04:53.088-07:00"Arab League takes concern regarding the stalling of the Renaissance Dam negotiations" - Egypt Today<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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CAIRO – 23 June 2020: The Arab League announced, Tuesday that Egypt and Sudan water security is an integral part of the Arab national security.<br />
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In its 14-article final statement, the emergency Arab League Council meeting at the level of Foreign Ministers, refused any action that affects the rights of all three countries sharing the Nile waters. The minsters expressed their serious concern regarding the stalling of the Renaissance Dam negotiations.<br />
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On Sunday, Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry accused Ethiopian officials of stoking antagonism between the countries, during an interview with the Associated Press.<br />
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“Egypt wants the United Nations Security Council to undertake its responsibilities and prevent Ethiopia from starting to fill its massive, newly built hydroelectric dam on the Nile River in July amid a breakdown in negotiations,” Sameh told AP.<br />
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"The responsibility of the Security Council is to address a pertinent threat to international peace and security, and certainly the unilateral actions by Ethiopia in this regard would constitute such a threat," the minister clarified.<br />
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Ethiopia announced Friday that it would begin filling the dam’s reservoir in July even after the latest round of talks with Egypt and Sudan failed to reach a deal governing how the dam will be filled and operated.<br />
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Shoukry warned that filling the reservoir without an accord would violate the 2015 declaration of principles governing their talks — and rule out a return to negotiations.<br />
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The Arab League final statement also refused and condemned all sorts of foreign intervention in Libya warning against the longevity of the ongoing conflict.<br />
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The statement first article emphasized adherence to all previous decisions of the Arab League Council on Libya, including the latest decisions issued by the Arab Summit in Tunisia last year.<br />
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The second article of the statement stressed on Libya’s unity, sovereignty, territorial integrity, stability, and the welfare of its people and their right in democratic future. It also stressed the need to work to restore the Libyan institutions role in serving the Libyan people away from any external interference.<br />
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In its third article, the Arab League final statement highlighted the importance of reaching a political solution in Libya, along with supporting the Libyan political agreement signed in Skhirat and affirming the role of all legitimate institutions emanating from it.<br />
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Article number four emphasized the central and essential role of the Libyan neighboring countries and the importance of coordination among them to end the Libyan crisis.<br />
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Number five, the Arab Council of Ministers stressed its rejection and necessity of preventing external interventions of all kinds in Libya, as it facilitates the movement of foreign terrorists into Libya, as well as violating international resolutions on the arms embargo that threaten the security of the Libyan neighbors and the region.<br />
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The statement explained in the sixth article that reaching a political settlement between Libyans parties is the only solution to return security and stability to the country, and to eliminate terrorism.<br />
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And in the seventh article, the final statement demanded the withdrawal of all foreign forces on the Libyan territories, including the Libyan territorial waters. It also warned against the consequences of continuing military escalations in order to avoid complicating the conflict.<br />
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In its speech during the meeting, Shoukry said that Egypt will not hesitate to take every measure to prevent Libya from falling under the control of terrorist groups and armed militias.<br />
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Shoukry noted that Cairo was keen to work through all the diplomatic means to bring the views of different Libyans together and was involved in all the international initiatives aimed at achieving a political settlement in Libya, including the Libyan-Libyan political initiative "Cairo Declaration" launched on June 6.<br />
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He confirmed Egypt's keenness on the achievement of Berlin's political and economic resolutions, as well as the (5 + 5) resolution that will put in place the agreed security and military arrangements.<br />
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He stressed Egypt's active support and coordination with the efforts of the United Nations.<br />
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Shoukry also asserted the importance of working to reform the Libyan economy, through reforming the institutions under the parliament’s supervision and activating the Oil Corporation and the Central Bank in a framework of transparency and fair distribution of wealth.<br />
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The Egyptian minister warned of the consequences of remaining foreign interventions on the Libyan territories to support terrorist groups and militias by transferring foreign mercenaries and terrorists from Syria to Libya in a way that destabilizes Libyan internal security and represents a grave threat to Arab national security.<br />
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On June 19, Egypt called for an emergency meeting for the Arab League Council at the level of Foreign Ministers to discuss the latest updates regarding number of urgent issues including the political updates in Libya. The meeting was held via video conference, and headed by Oman.</div>
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On the same day of June 19, Egypt called the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to intervene in the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam issue, asserting the importance of continuing the negotiations between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan in order to reach a fair and just solution for all three countries.<br />
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Egypt stressed the need to prevent any unilateral measures that might affect the chances of reaching a balanced agreement.<br />
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Egypt's request to the Security Council was based on Article 35 of the United Nations Charter, which allows member states to alert the council to any update that might threaten the international peace and security.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387513634772047821.post-23702457630388560152020-03-18T08:27:00.003-07:002020-03-18T08:27:51.928-07:00Egypt’s FM Shoukry to embark in African tour to deliver message from Sisi on Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) Egypt Today<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<img alt="FILE: Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry " class="img-responsive big-img" src="https://www.egypttoday.com/siteimages/Larg/62935.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Helvetica, arial, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle; width: 592.984px;" title="Egypt’s FM Shoukry to embark in African tour to deliver message from Sisi" /><span class="imgcaption" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #716a67; display: block; font-family: Helvetica, arial, Georgia, serif; font-size: 12px; padding: 3px; text-align: center;">FILE: Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry</span><br />
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Egypt’s FM Shoukry to embark in African tour to deliver message from Sisi</h1>
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By: <a href="https://www.egypttoday.com/Editor/3" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #cd2122; display: inline-block; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Bold, arial, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">Egypt Today staff</a></div>
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Mon, Mar. 16, 2020</div>
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CAIRO – 16 March 2020: Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry will embark on an African tour starting, Tuesday to deliver a message from President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi to his African Counterparts.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />According to Foreign Ministry’s Spokesman Ahmed Hafez, the tour will include South Africa, Tanzania, DR Congo, South Sudan, Burundi, Niger, and Rwanda.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />On March 13, Shoukry handed his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian, a message from President Sisi to French President Emmanuel Macron regarding the latest developments of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />According to Hafez, handing the message took place during a meeting that took place in Paris.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />During the meeting, Shoukry called on France and the EU countries to exert more efforts to push Ethiopia into signing the agreement on filling and operating the dam, with the aim of maintaining security and stability in the Horn of Africa region, the spokesman added.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Nearly week ago, Shoukry embarked on a tour of which he visited number of Arab and European countries to deliver Sisi’s message to several leaders regarding GERD.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />On March 11, Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa affirmed his country’s solidarity with Egypt to ensure its legitimate Nile water rights, as Egypt and Ethiopia have been in a diplomatic conflict, especially recently, over the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />In a meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Shoukry in Bahrain, King Hamad said he considers Egypt’s national security a main pillar of Arab security, Bahrain News Agency, the state’s agency, reported.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />President Sisi also sent a message to Jordanian King Abdullah II on the recent stalemate between Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia on GERD. The message was delivered by Shoukry.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />"King Abdullah II expressed his country’s support to Egypt to preserve its water security," said the spokesman.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387513634772047821.post-86612537913272477662018-11-23T05:56:00.002-08:002018-11-23T05:56:23.274-08:00Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam completion controversy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<small style="color: #9f9e9e; display: block; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9px; padding-bottom: 10px; text-transform: uppercase;">BY <a href="http://www.twitter.com/jehronmuhammad" style="color: #0d719b; font-family: Georgia; text-decoration-line: none;">JEHRON MUHAMMAD</a> | LAST UPDATED: NOV 20, 2018 - 9:02:39 PM</small><br />
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<a href="https://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/contactus/contactus.shtml" style="color: #0d719b; font-family: Georgia; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">What's your opinion on this article?</a></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">In this June 28, 2013 file photo, construction work takes place, at the site of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam near Assosa, Ethiopia. Earlier this year, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi sought to defuse tensions with Ethiopia and Sudan, reassuring them that his country is not meddling in their internal affairs or planning to go to war against them. Egypt has expressed mounting alarm over the soon-to-be-completed upstream dam that Cai-ro fears could cut into its share of the Nile River, which provides nearly all its freshwater. Photo: AP/Wide World Photo/Elias Asmare</span></div>
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<br style="clear: both; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px;">The Grand Ehiopian Renaissance Dam is edging closer to completion in Ethiopia, but not without ruffling a few feathers along the way, most notably, Egypt. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi recently told reporters that, “we need to turn Ethiopia’s goodwill into formal agreements” and ensure the nearly completed Ethiopian dam is not used for “political purposes.” The general turned president did not elaborate, saying only that Egypt has seen “positive signs” from Ethiopia’s government during the process.</span><br />
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Construction of the dam began in 2011 and is called the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). It was formally known as the Millennium Dam and during the planning stage was called Project X. It is considered Africa’s largest hydropower project and the 8th-largest in the world. Upon completion it will generate 6,000 megawatts of electricity and its reservoir will be able to hold over 70 billion cubic meters of water, which is nearly equal to the flow of the Nile river in one year. The dam is located in the Benishangul-Gumuz region of Ethiopia, on the Blue Nile River, to the east of Sudan. The project, a source of national pride for many Ethiopians, is owned by the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCO).</div>
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The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam will reduce water evaporation. According to <a href="http://water-technology.net/" style="color: #0d719b; font-family: Georgia; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="text-decoration-line: underline;">Water-Technology.net</span></a>, the regulated flow of Nile river water from the dam will “improve agriculture and the impact from evaporation of water from the dam will be minimal compared with other dams in Ethiopia, which will help in water conservation.”</div>
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In addition, Egypt’s Aswan High Dam and other dams in Ethiopia, “equates to around 19 billion cubic meters.” It’s estimated that the Ethiopian dam will reduce the capacity of the Aswan Dam, saving roughly six billion cubic meters of water. </div>
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The impact on the region could be significant. Previous agreements about utilization of the river signed in 1929 and 1959 favored Egypt, which historically adopted an aggressive approach to the flow of the Nile River.</div>
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According to <a href="http://conversation.com/" style="color: #0d719b; font-family: Georgia; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="text-decoration-line: underline;">conversation.com</span></a>, “The first agreement was made between Great Britain, as the colonial power in eastern Africa, and Egypt. Cairo was favored over other riparian (situated on banks of Nile River) countries as an important agricultural asset. In addition, the Egyptian-run Suez Canal was vital for British imperial ambitions.” The British riparian colonies included: Sudan, Uganda, Kenya and Tanganyika (now Tanzania) as well as Ethiopia. They had no say in the outcome of the agreement.</div>
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Cairo considers the Nile a national security matter and statements—though decreasing—continue to include threats of military action against Ethiopia should it interfere with the flow as set out in both agreements. After independence all the upstream riparian states argued in favor of a new, more inclusive legal framework for governing the Nile River Basin. They argued that they are not bound by these agreements because they were never parties to them.</div>
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Outlined in previous agreements is that Egypt would receive 48 billion cubic meters of water annually and Sudan four billion cubic meters. The 1929 agreement granted Egypt veto power over construction projects on the Nile River or any of its tributaries in an effort to minimize any interference with the flow of water into the Nile. In 1959, according to Brookings.edu, “Egypt and an independent Sudan signed a bilateral agreement, which effectively reinforced the provisions of the 1929 Anglo-Egyptian Treaty.”</div>
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The 1959 agreement increased the two countries share of water, Egypt’s share to 55.5 billion cubic meters and Sudan’s to 18.5 billion.</div>
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In April of 2011, then-prime minister of Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi, laid the foundation for the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Shortly after the prime minister’s announcement, authorities in Cairo launched a campaign against what they said was an attempt by Addis Ababa to interfere with Egypt’s water rights.</div>
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Egypt’s president at the time, Mohamed Morsi, angrily stated, while not “calling for war” with Ethiopia, that “Egypt’s water security cannot be violated at all.” He further stated, “all options are open,” and that Egyptians would not accept any projects on the Nile River that threatened their livelihood. </div>
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The absurdity of this policy is mind boggling and only made sense under colonial rule, since roughly 85 percent of the water that flows into the Nile comes from the Ethiopian highlands through the Blue Nile. The remaining comes from the White Nile.</div>
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Showing some willingness to play ball, Egypt, through President el-Sissi signed an agreement that included both Ethiopia and Sudan.</div>
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“While it is true that Egyptians rely totally on the waters of the Nile River for all their needs, they must be sensitive to the development needs of the upstream riparian states, especially given the fact that the latter, particularly Ethiopia, are in a position to cause significant harm to the quantity and quality of water that flows into the Nile,” cautioned <a href="http://brookings.edu/" style="color: #0d719b; font-family: Georgia; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="text-decoration-line: underline;">brookings.edu</span></a>.</div>
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Other challenges include: the Nile is shrinking due to less and more intermittent precipitation in Ethiopia and in other upstream countries, writes Salam Abdulqadir Abdulrahman, of the University of Human Development in Iraq. “In addition, Lake Victoria, the source of 20%-30% of the Nile waters, is shrinking at an alarming rate,” he added.</div>
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But Ethiopia also has to consider Egypt’s water needs. According to analysis by the Washington Institute, the Nile’s flow will fall drastically during the new dam’s reservoir filling period, forcing Egypt to make up for these annual water losses.</div>
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While it appears Egypt and Ethiopia are trying to find an amicable solution, the countries have not made much headway, notes the Washington Institute. The project is over 60 percent completed but the issue with the reservoir filling period is the biggest remaining issue and Egypt would like to prolong it as much as possible to lessen the annual decrease in Nile water supplies, the institute explains.</div>
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Ethiopia recently appointed engineer Kifle Hora as the dam’s new project manager, according to Ethiopian Electric Power. Mr. Hora who will be signed on by engineers Ehpherem Woldekidan and Dekadu Kebede, replaces engineer Simegnew Bekele who was found dead in his car in Addis Ababa, in July. Mr. Bekele was the prominent face of the project.</div>
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In addition to meeting Ethiopia’s energy needs, once the dam is completed it will also act as a driving force for exporting electricity to neighboring nations, which will prove crucial to generating foreign exchange.</div>
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Those neighboring nations will include Sudan. According to Stratfor/Worldview, “The prospect of more electrical power effectively convinced Khartoum to switch sides from Cairo to Addis Ababa, inevitably infuriating Egypt.” <i>Follow @jehronmuhammad on Twitter</i>.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387513634772047821.post-73029664765686558312018-09-07T00:11:00.005-07:002018-09-07T00:11:51.802-07:00Ethiopia’s Mega Dam project stalled due to corruption <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Grand scandal from Ethiopia’s mega dam project reveals that nearly six billion birr is misappropriated.</span> <a href="http://www.metec.gov.et/web/guest/metec-background" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #cd1713; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">METEC </a><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">is behind it</span>.</div>
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<img alt="Scandal _ Grand Renaissance Dam" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-24646" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 627px) 100vw, 627px" src="https://www.borkena.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Scandal-_-Grand-Renaissance-Dam.jpg" srcset="https://www.borkena.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Scandal-_-Grand-Renaissance-Dam.jpg 627w, https://www.borkena.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Scandal-_-Grand-Renaissance-Dam-470x300.jpg 470w, https://www.borkena.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Scandal-_-Grand-Renaissance-Dam-86x54.jpg 86w, https://www.borkena.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Scandal-_-Grand-Renaissance-Dam-570x364.jpg 570w" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; display: block; height: auto !important; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="627" /></div>
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Sources borkena & Fana <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></div>
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Ethiopian Grand Renaissance Dam has caused internal and external controversy from the get go in 2011.</div>
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At home, Ethiopians saw the project initially not as unnecessary but as untimely from the point of view of polarized political environment and chronic good governance issues.</div>
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Many Ethiopian analysts even thought that the $US 4,5 billion mega project was introduced at the time to divert the attention of the Ethiopian mass from undertaking fundamental political change inspired by the “Arab Spring.”</div>
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Others saw the project as a conducive way to misappropriate resources to the benefit of the then influential and powerful elites who oversaw the project one way or another.</div>
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Externally, it was feared, at the time, that the project would bring Ethiopia in a collision course with Egypt and politicized Ethiopian analysts thought that the time was not right for confrontation. Activists and analysts believed that Ethiopia is divided due to the policies of the late prime minister Meles Zenawi and that would provide Egypt, in view of past efforts, an opportunity to inject billions of dollars to deepen the division to lead Ethiopia to chaos.</div>
<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">In fact, Egypt has been trying diplomatic and other means to sabotage the project as it believed that it would hard Egypt’s share of the water from the Blue Nile over which Ethiopia is building the dam. It took years of diplomatic efforts to convince Egypt that the project will be completed in a way that lower riparian countries (Sudan and Egypt) are not affected.Grand Scandals revealed</span></div>
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When GERD project was unveiled in 2011, project delivery time frame was given as five years. In terms of funds, it was estimated that the project would cost about 88 billion Ethiopian Birr (about $US 4.5 billion).</div>
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An investigative journalism documentary by Fana Broadcasting Corporate which was aired yesterday that seven years later the project is no where near completion but has already consumed over 70 billion Ethiopian Birr.</div>
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The documentary unveiled misappropriation of huge funds by Metals and Engineering Corporation (<a href="http://www.metec.gov.et/web/guest/metec-background" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #cd1713; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">METEC</a>), Ethiopian government owned enterprise. It was hired to do the electro-mechanical and hydro-steel work aspect of the project at a cost of 25.58 billion Ethiopian Birr, according to Abraham Belay Executive Director of Ethiopian Electric Power, who owns the project on behalf of the Ethiopian government.</div>
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Salini Construction, an Italian Company, was hired to undertake the civil engineering aspect of the project and has so far completed between 70-75 % of contracted out work, according to the report by Fana, for which it is paid about €1.48 billion. Pay out to Salini is said to be 5 % higher which was incurred due to late payment on the part of Ethiopian Electric Power authority.</div>
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On the other hand, METEC, has completed only about 25 to 30 percent of contracted out work (and it is verified by the consultancy company- Salini) while it is paid out 65.65 % of the project cost (16.79 billion Ethiopian Birr). And here is where the big scandal comes. METEC which was under the leadership of top TPLF military generals, like Kinfe Dagnaw who was made to retire, has even received full payments for some works that are not even started.</div>
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The project is stalled because of METEC as Salini Construction must wait for electro-mechanical and hydro-steel work to be completed to carry out work on its turf.</div>
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The project delivery is already delayed by two years and it remains unclear as to how long it will take to compete the remaining work which is over 70 percent as far as METEC is concerned and about 30 % in the case of Salini Construction.</div>
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METEC is paid out about 5.8 billion birrs in what appears to be rather a fraudulent payment. And no authority is held responsible for it so far.</div>
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The project manager was found dead in his car at Meskel Square on July 28,2018. Findings of the investigation is not yet revealed to the public but there is a belief that he was assassinated. Some think that his death is orchestrated by Former TPLF authorities who oversaw METEC. Others think that he is possibly assassinated by a mercenary hired by Egypt.</div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Reactions to the scandal</span></div>
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Ethiopians, from within the country and abroad, have been contributing to the dam project in the form of purchasing bonds not just as an investment but also as duty for national cause.<br />
Workers have been paying a portion of their income, just like pay as you go pension plan, towards the Grand Renaissance Dam.</div>
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Suspicion was high regarding the public project as it was delayed despite the government before Abiy Ahmed administration propagated that the project is near completion.</div>
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News of grand scandal, and Fana has cited important financial and other documents related to it, has shocked the public. Anger is high.</div>
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Some activists are already mobilizing Ethiopians to take to the street to demand that those who are responsible for misappropriation or even an outright theft of funds is held accountable.</div>
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The government of Abiy Ahmed has already ordered the break up of METET into two; one of which is to remain under the military and the rest is to be transferred to a civilian administration.</div>
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But that is not what Ethiopians want, apparently. Ethiopians rather want full wrath of the law be applied to those who stole public funds from the project in different forms.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387513634772047821.post-56283098288041584642018-07-27T00:09:00.001-07:002018-07-27T00:09:53.660-07:00As a Dam Rises in Ethiopia, Its Manager Is Found Dead- NYT<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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CAIRO — The manager of a $4 billion dam under construction on the Blue Nile River in Ethiopia was found shot dead on Thursday, drawing an anguished reaction from Ethiopia’s leaders and setting on edge one of Africa’s most contentious development projects.</div>
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The project manager, Semegnew Bekele, who was overseeing the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, was found slumped behind the wheel of his Toyota Land Cruiser in Meskel Square in the capital, Addis Ababa, at 8:30 a.m. He had a gunshot wound to his head, the federal police commissioner, Zeinu Jamal, told reporters.</div>
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The police also found a pistol inside the car and were trying to identify its owner, Mr. Jamal said. The police commissioner did not say whether he suspected foul play, fueling speculation that the death was linked to Mr. Semegnew’s work.</div>
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When completed, <a class="css-1g7m0tk" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/12/world/dam-rising-in-ethiopia-stirs-hope-and-tension.html" style="border: 0px; color: #326891; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;" title="">the giant Renaissance dam</a> is expected to generate 6,400 megawatts of hydroelectricity that will more than double Ethiopia’s current production and potentially allow the country to earn hundreds of millions of dollars in energy export revenues. But the project has met with stiff resistance from Egypt, where many fear it will cut into the country’s already strained supply of Nile water.</div>
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Mr. Semegnew, 57, a short, loquacious man with a salt-and-pepper beard, was the project’s engineer and unofficial ambassador. He explained the dam’s benefits to the Ethiopian taxpayers who funded it, and sought to assure nervous Egyptians that it would cause them no harm.</div>
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“This is our baby,” he told The New York Times in May during a tour of the dam in the Ethiopian highlands, five miles from the border with Sudan. “This is what we are saying. Not just me — all Ethiopians.”</div>
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<br /><span style="font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 19px; text-align: left;">His sudden death sent ripples of sorrow across Ethiopia on Thursday. Grief-stricken citizens scuffled with the police as they attempted to lay flowers near the bloodstained vehicle where </span>Mr.<span style="font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 19px; text-align: left;"> Semegnew was found. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was “saddened & utterly shocked,” his chief of staff, Fitsum Arega, said in a Twitter post.</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387513634772047821.post-39229378862679602652018-07-26T23:58:00.001-07:002018-07-26T23:58:30.877-07:00 The end is Nile: International cooperation on Egypt's water crisis EU<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Ethiopia is building Africa's largest dam, crucial to its energy security and economic growth. It is also causing issues with neighbours on the Nile, particularly Egypt, which could suffer from absolute water scarcity once the project is complete. </div>
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Egypt’s concern about the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) has gained a new intensity. Since its launch in 2011, the project has elicited a mixture of denial and opposition from Cairo – despite the conclusion of a water <a href="https://www.internationalwaterlaw.org/documents/regionaldocs/Khartoum_Document_29_Dec_2015.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #1991de; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">management</a> agreement between Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan in 2015. Earlier this year, Egypt reportedly <a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180115-nile-water-crisis-places-sudan-egypt-and-ethiopia-on-the-brink-of-war/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #1991de; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">considered</a> a response to GERD that involved either a bilateral agreement with Ethiopia (which would exclude Sudan) or even military action.</div>
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However, judging by its recent <a href="https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/1/54151/President-Sisi-to-meet-Bashir-in-visit-to-Sudan-Amb" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #1991de; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">bilateral</a> and <a href="http://www.masrawy.com/news/news_egypt/details/2018/6/20/1379196/%D9%88%D8%B2%D9%8A%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D9%8A-%D8%AD%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%87-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D9%85%D8%B5%D8%B1-%D8%AD%D8%B1%D8%AC%D8%A9-%D9%88%D9%81%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D9%85%D9%86-%D9%86%D9%88%D8%B9%D9%87%D8%A7" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #1991de; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">regional</a> diplomatic efforts, the government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has accepted that the dam will be built and is instead working hard to mitigate the problems the project could create for Egypt. Sustaining this drive will require determined effort, both domestically and in the wider region.</div>
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A $4 billion feat of engineering with a planned production capacity of 6,000 megawatts, GERD is crucial to Ethiopia’s energy security and economic growth. Ethiopia hopes that the hydroelectric dam – Africa’s largest – will extend the power grid nationwide by 2025, serving the roughly <a href="https://www.giz.de/en/mediacenter/63010.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #1991de; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">86 million</a> Ethiopians who currently lack access to electricity.</div>
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When Addis Ababa first embarked on the project, Cairo objected that it would violate regional treaties Egypt and Sudan <a href="http://www.geosociety.org/gsatoday/archive/27/5/article/GSATG312A.1.htm" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #1991de; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">signed</a> in 1929 and amended in 1959. Cairo believed that these agreements, which allocate most of the Nile’s water to the signatories, would act as a bulwark against unilateral measures that reduced its access to the river. Yet, under intense domestic pressure to enhance its economy and aware that political upheaval threatened Egyptian stability, Ethiopia embarked on the project nonetheless, funding most of the work itself.</div>
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GERD will divert much of the water that has historically flowed into the Nile Delta along other routes. With the project 60 percent complete, Ethiopia can begin collecting water and filling up portions of the dam in a process that could take up to 15 years. As a consequence, Egypt’s supply of fresh water from the Nile will <a href="http://www.geosociety.org/gsatoday/archive/27/5/article/GSATG312A.1.htm" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #1991de; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">drop</a> by an estimated 25 percent over the next seven years.</div>
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For Cairo, this is an existential threat. Because the river provides around 85 percent of Egypt’s fresh water, such a drop could cause the country to suffer from absolute water scarcity in the near future – unless it reforms its water usage policies. As it stands, a rapidly expanding population, wasteful irrigation practices, high levels of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/theworldpost/wp/2018/03/22/egypt/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.1941012ce977" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #1991de; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">water pollution</a>, and a lack of effective water recycling or desalination facilities have precipitated a sharp rise in Egypt’s <a href="https://www.ecomena.org/egypt-water/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #1991de; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">water deficit</a>.</div>
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Egypt should endeavour to defuse any conflict arising in negotiations over these challenges, because it has the most to lose</div>
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To address the problems associated with GERD and avert a crisis, Egypt has begun to pursue domestic and regional strategies on the ground. With the help of the European External Action Service, the country has completed a <a href="http://www.nwrpeg.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=50&Itemid=54" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #1991de; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">National Water Resources Plan</a> that focuses on water management over the next two decades. The plan covers efforts to raise awareness on water usage practices, promote <a href="http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2018/03/egypt-religious-authorities-raise-awareness-nile-water-use.html#ixzz5KnAuSkQ1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #1991de; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">water conservation</a>, reform the public water sector, invest in desalination plants, and upgrade the country’s irrigation infrastructure.</div>
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As all these measures are of vital importance to Egyptian water security, the government must implement them in a <a href="http://blogs.worldbank.org/water/game-changing-water-solutions-middle-east-and-north-africa" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #1991de; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">sustainable manner</a>. Governmental bodies have <a href="https://www.desalination.biz/news/0/Egypt-finalises-finance-for-south-Sinai-desal-plants/8996/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #1991de; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">announced</a>that they will <a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180703-egypt-announces-an-urgent-plan-for-water-security/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #1991de; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">pursue</a> large-scale legacy projects such as numerous <a href="http://www.cairoscene.com/Buzz/water-crisis-solution" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #1991de; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; word-wrap: break-word;">desalination plants</a>. However, it is equally, if not more, important to tackle endemic issues that have undermined Egypt’s water security, including the inefficiency of its <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/04/egypt-water-crisis-intensifies-scarcity" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #1991de; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">inefficient irrigation infrastructure</a>.</div>
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Yet significant improvements in this area will not by themselves offset GERD’s impact, let alone the broader water supply problems Egypt confronts. Cairo also needs to engage in regional diplomacy.</div>
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There are signs that Egypt has (wisely) decided to focus its diplomatic negotiating strategy on the period in which Ethiopia is <a href="https://www.madamasr.com/en/2018/06/21/feature/politics/egypt-ethiopia-approach-negotiations-over-filling-renaissance-dam-reservoir/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #1991de; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">filling</a> the dam’s reservoir. It is in Cairo’s interest that Addis Ababa take as long as possible to complete this process, buying time to pursue domestic reforms and bring new desalination and water treatment plants online.</div>
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In this, Egypt will have to contend with pressure to reap the benefits of the dam from within Ethiopia. Sudan’s role is another factor that complicates the strategy. Although the country is also a beneficiary of the Nile’s downstream flow (as per the 1959 treaty), it has supported Ethiopia’s construction of GERD – much to Egypt’s consternation. A recent <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/01/11/egypt-sudan-spat-muddies-prospects-for-deal-on-big-nile-dam-renaissance-gerd-ethiopia-sisi-turkey/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #1991de; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">rise in tension</a> between Egypt and Sudan over other issues, including a territorial dispute in the Hala’ib Triangle, may hamper Cairo’s efforts to gain support from Khartoum.</div>
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Nonetheless, it is imperative that Egypt maintains its current diplomatic momentum by pushing for a multilateral water management arrangement with Sudan and Ethiopia. Agreements between the three countries signed in May 2018, which build on the tripartite 2015 deal, provide the basis for broader cooperation, particularly in their call for <a href="https://www.mfa.gov.eg/Arabic/MediaCenter/News/Pages/Unofficial-translation.aspx" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #1991de; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">regional infrastructure investment funds</a>. As the countries face many of the same challenges, a joint regional approach to combating water scarcity and the instability it creates could be mutually beneficial.</div>
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Egypt should endeavour to defuse any conflict arising in negotiations over these challenges, because it has the most to lose. Moreover, it should envision ways to move beyond an immediate response to GERD and establish a framework for long term cooperation. It is here that the involvement of the EU can be most valuable, providing direct mediation, indirect technical support, and neutral oversight of countries’ fulfilment of agreements. Egypt’s current diplomatic drive also provides an opportunity to rework outdated treaties and construct a more robust regional framework that can meet future water security challenges. Given the threat it now faces, the country must take the lead in such efforts.</div>
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Read more on: <a href="https://www.ecfr.eu/archives/C83" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #1991de; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; word-wrap: break-word;">Europe and the world </a>,<a href="https://www.ecfr.eu/archives/C10" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #1991de; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; word-wrap: break-word;">The Middle East and North Africa</a>,<a href="https://www.ecfr.eu/archives/C313" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #1991de; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; word-wrap: break-word;">North Africa</a>,<a href="https://www.ecfr.eu/archives/C323" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #1991de; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; word-wrap: break-word;">Egypt</a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387513634772047821.post-47124414022749138782018-06-08T00:58:00.001-07:002018-06-08T00:58:07.173-07:00Egypt's Options to Counter Ethiopia's Grand Dam Run Dry- stratfor.com<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">§<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><i><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Whitney-Medium",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, a critical component of Addis Ababa's economic
development strategy, will provide ample electricity for the country's 100
million citizens.</span></i><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Whitney-Medium",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">§<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><i><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Whitney-Medium",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Despite
Egypt's long hostility to the project, Ethiopia will soon complete the dam,
underscoring the shifting balance of power from Cairo to the upstream states of
Sudan and Ethiopia.</span></i><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Whitney-Medium",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">§<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><i><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Whitney-Medium",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Cairo's
weak hand and inability to gain sufficient leverage over Addis Ababa will force
it to coordinate dam operations if it wishes to have input on future Nile River
projects.</span></i><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Whitney-Medium",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Whitney-Medium",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></i></div>
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<span style="background: #F9F9F9; color: #444444; font-family: "PublicoText-Roman",serif; font-size: 18.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"> </span>The diplomatic merry-go-round shows little sign that it is about to slow down. In mid-May, officials from Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan sat down in Addis Ababa to discuss the estimated $6.4 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam project and to find a solution to the Egypt-Ethiopia impasse over the hydroelectric project on the Nile River. Although the negotiators, including foreign ministers, intelligence chiefs and water ministers, failed to break the deadlock, they did sign a new road map to establish a scientific study group to monitor one of Egypt's biggest concerns — the rate at which water fills the reservoir. The talks seem likely to beget more talks, because Cairo will have little choice but to adopt a more conciliatory tone in the months ahead if it wishes to minimize the effect of the new dam — as well as that of any future projects — on downstream activities.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Whitney-Bold",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A Battle for Water<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "PublicoText-Roman",serif; font-size: 18.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Attempts at diplomacy notwithstanding, the fundamental differences between Cairo and Addis Ababa (as well as Khartoum) will remain as the project nears completion. (Ethiopian authorities have said they are aiming to finish the project by the end of the current Ethiopian year, which ends in October, but that time frame appears to be overly ambitious.) Egypt harbors understandable fear about the potentially negative effects of the dam, because the downstream giant derives 95 percent of its water supply from the river. Consequently, officials in Cairo are particularly worried about the rate at which Addis Ababa fills the dam's reservoir, because doing so rapidly would further strain Egypt's water supply. A French firm conducting impact study reports has suggested that Ethiopia could prevent undue disruptions in the water flow to downstream countries if it fills the reservoir more slowly, although Cairo and Addis Ababa have been tussling over the report's findings. Ultimately, Addis Ababa wishes to fill the reservoir in about three years or so — a much quicker time frame than the decadelong duration preferred by Cairo.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "PublicoText-Roman",serif; font-size: 18.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For Addis Ababa, the dam addresses the country's electricity shortages and furthers its <a href="https://worldview.stratfor.com/article/ethiopia-can-landlocked-power-restore-its-former-glory"><span style="color: #444444;">development strategy</span></a>. Upon completion, the project will make the landlocked country of 100 million more attractive to outside investment. The benefits will also be tangible for Sudan, which will have the option of using the dam's surplus electricity. In fact, the prospect of more electrical power effectively convinced Khartoum to <a href="https://worldview.stratfor.com/article/river-runs-through-african-rivalry"><span style="color: #444444;">switch sides</span></a> from Cairo to Addis Ababa — inevitably infuriating Egypt.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387513634772047821.post-58234146379237704942018-05-17T00:27:00.003-07:002018-05-17T00:27:44.867-07:00Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan reach agreement on Nile dispute<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<img src="https://i1.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/2018_4-17-Ethiopian-Renaissance-DamDa91ADEWAAAnBYD.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&quality=75&strip=all&ssl=1" style="background-color: transparent;" />Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan have reached an agreement in their ongoing dispute over the construction of the Renaissance Dam on the River Nile.</div>
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Progress was made in talks held yesterday in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, to discuss the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), a $4 billion infrastructure project being undertaken by Ethiopia. The foreign ministers of Egypt and Ethiopia and Sudan’s water resources minister have said they will set up a scientific study group to consult on the construction of the dam, and leaders from the three nations will meet every six months for consultations on progress. More high-level talks are set to take place on 3 July in Cairo.</div>
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According to documents obtained by the <i style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Associated Press</i>, the scientific study group will discuss “various scenarios related to the filling and operation rules in accordance with the principle of equitable and reasonable utilization of shared water resources while taking all appropriate measures to prevent the causing of significant harm.”</div>
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The three countries have also signed a Declaration of Principles that aims to bring about “understanding and rapprochement between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia.” The ten-principle declaration was first proposed in 2015 as the foundation upon which further agreements should be based.</div>
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Egypt’s Foreign Minister, Sameh Shoukry, told reporters that “we have charted a roadmap that, if successful, will be able to break difficulties that we have been facing,” according to the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/ethiopia-egypt-sudan-agree-to-study-filling-of-nile-dam/2018/05/16/f655740e-58f3-11e8-9889-07bcc1327f4b_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.e4a15a445613" style="border: 0px; color: #cb0000; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><i style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Washington Post</i></a>. Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Meles Alem, saw the progress as “one step forward to Ethiopia”.</div>
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Until now, extensive negotiations between the three countries had failed to reach an agreement. The previous round of talks, which took place in April in Sudan, ended without resolution. <a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180412-ethiopia-blames-egypt-for-failure-of-nile-dam-talks/" style="border: 0px; color: #cb0000; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Ethiopia blamed Egypt</a> for the failure of these talks, citing a “lack of goodwill on Egypt’s part to move the consultations forward.” Alem explained that “Egypt wanted Ethiopia to recognise a 1959 water-sharing treaty between Sudan and Egypt,” which Ethiopia sees as “a red line” because the agreement was signed in its absence. Although there have been a number of treaties over the years between the countries sharing water from the Nile, most of these agreements excluded Ethiopia.</div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">READ: <a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180115-nile-water-crisis-places-sudan-egypt-and-ethiopia-on-the-brink-of-war/" style="border: 0px; color: #cb0000; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Nile water crisis places Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia on the brink of war</a></span></div>
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The April talks were the first technical meetings held after Egypt suspended negotiations last November, in protest at Sudanese and Ethiopian modifications of the studies made by French experts about the dam. The dispute has been ongoing since Ethiopia began construction on the dam back in 2011. The dam is situated on the Blue Nile, a tributary of the Nile River in the Benishangul-Gumuz Region of Ethiopia, about 15 kilometres east of the border with Sudan.</div>
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The dam is now 60 per cent complete and will become Africa’s largest hydroelectric dam. Ethiopia hopes the dam will boost development in the country and provide power to 60 million of its citizens who currently don’t have access to electricity. Egypt, however, is concerned that too much of the Nile’s waters could be retained each year by the dam, affecting its agriculture and suffocating the country’s main water source. With around 93 per cent of Egypt’s 94 million citizens living along the banks of Nile, Egypt has taken a tough stance against Ethiopia’s plans. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi has <a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180417-talks-about-the-nile-between-sudan-egypt-and-ethiopia-are-deadlocked-so-where-to-from-here/" style="border: 0px; color: #cb0000; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">previously said</a> that “the Nile is a matter of life and death” for Egypt.</div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">READ: <a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20171128-the-assassination-of-egypts-nile/" style="border: 0px; color: #cb0000; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The assassination of Egypt’s Nile</a></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387513634772047821.post-13572242687807636132018-04-24T03:28:00.001-07:002018-04-24T03:28:53.567-07:00Egypt helped build several African dams: Irrigation Min. - Egypt Today<h1 style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Bold, arial, Georgia, serif; font-size: 26px; font-weight: 500; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px 10px;"><br /></h1><ul class="share_icons" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, arial, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><li class="FaceBooKmSg" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block;"><a class="icon-msngr" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: white; display: block; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Bold, arial, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; height: 35px; margin: 0px; padding: 2px 0px 0px; transition: all 0.5s; width: 35px;" title="Egypt helped build several African dams: Irrigation Min."><br /></a></li>
</ul><div class="article-cont" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, arial, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">CAIRO – 22 April 2018: The Ethiopian Renaissance Dam negotiations require patience, said Egypt’s Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohammed Abdel-Ati during a meeting held Saturday at the Wafd Party headquarters. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Abdel-Ati stated that Egypt has contributed to building several dams in multiple African nations, such as Owen Falls Dam in Uganda which Egypt semi-funded in 1950, Tekeze Dam in Ethiopia, and the Merowe, Jebel Aulia and Roseires dams in Sudan. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Abdel-Ati revealed that Egypt and Ethiopia had agreed on building the Renaissance Dam in 2008. However, the African Horn state announced in 2011 the building of another dam on the Blue Nile without informing Egypt. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Abdel-Ati said that Egypt has shown a positive attitude regarding the Renaissance Dam during the previous years, adding that Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia agreed on choosing a consultancy firm to provide the technical studies of the dam. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Abdel-Ati urged officials in Sudan and Ethiopia to understand Egypt’s worries regarding the state’s share of Nile water. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Egypt had invited the ministers of foreign affairs and irrigation, as well as the heads of the intelligence agencies, of Ethiopia and Sudan for another round of talks about the dam, which were scheduled to be held in Cairo on April 20; however, no response was received.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387513634772047821.post-70999057361278817362018-04-20T02:56:00.001-07:002018-04-20T02:56:48.675-07:00Ethiopia and Sudan didn't respond to Egypt's call to meet over GERD - Sudan Tribune: Plural news and views on Sudan<a href="http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article65225">Ethiopia and Sudan didn't respond to Egypt's call to meet over GERD - Sudan Tribune: Plural news and views on Sudan</a>: "Ethiopia and Sudan didn’t respond to Egypt’s call to meet over GERD<br />
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April 19, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - Ethiopia and Sudan didn’t reply to an Egyptian proposition to meet in Cairo this month to resume talks over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) after the failure of Khartoum meeting.<br />
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On 12 April Egypt denied obstructing joint efforts to settle the dispute over the impact of the GERD on Egypt share of water and proposed to meet in Cairo this month to complete the talks about what they engaged in Khartoum.<br />
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Speaking to Extranews TV, a local channel, Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry regretted that Addis Ababa and Khartoum didn’t respond yet to his invitation.<br />
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"Despite all that we have done, we do not see an interest similar to what we have shown, and therefore, we will wait until there is a desire from our partners to raise this issue," further Shoukry.<br />
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Ethiopia and Sudan said Khartoum meeting had been undermined by Egypt because it refused to include a disposition providing that Ethiopia is not concerned by 1959 deal which is a bilateral agreement between Cairo and Khartoum, despite a previous understanding over this point.<br />
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After the failure to sign a deal in Khartoum, the three countries agreed that the irrigation ministers should meet alone to fix all the technical issues before to be joined by the foreign ministers and intelligence chiefs.<br />
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The meeting of irrigation ministers alone, de facto, means the cancellation of a decision reached by the leaders of the three pays on 29 January providing that the meetings over the GERD issue should include the foreign minister and the head of intelligence services.<br />
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Shoukry warned against further delay in the talks while Ethiopia continues the construction of the dam saying that his government will continue to defend the interests of the Egyptian people in the waters of the Nile "through many means".<br />
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"Everyone should know that Egypt will not accept imposing a status quo through which the will of a party is imposed over another," he further added.<br />
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position: relative; text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) 0px 1px 0px;"><div class="pb-sig-line hasnt-headshot has-0-headshots hasnt-bio is-not-column" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.1em; padding-bottom: 25px;"><span class="pb-byline" itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-family: FranklinITCProBold, "Franklin Gothic Medium", "Franklin Gothic", "ITC Franklin Gothic", "Apple SD Gothic Neo", "Myriad Set Pro", "Helvetica Neue", "Helvetica Neue Light", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; padding-right: 5px;"><span class="byline-role" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-transform: capitalize;">By </span><span itemprop="name" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Associated Press</span></span> <span class="pb-timestamp" content="2018-04-19T11:06-500" itemprop="datePublished" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #aaaaaa; display: inline-block; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.1em; padding-right: 5px; white-space: nowrap;">April 19 at 11:06 AM</span></div><article class="paywall" itemprop="articleBody" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div data-elm-loc="0" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%;">CAIRO — Egypt’s foreign minister has delivered a warning to Ethiopia over a dam it is building on a Nile River tributary.</div><div data-elm-loc="1" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%;">Sameh Shoukry says in TV comments aired Thursday that all parties “should know that Egypt will not accept the status quo ... and continues to defend the interests of its people regarding the Nile by several means.”</div><div data-elm-loc="2" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%;">He did not elaborate.</div><div data-elm-loc="3" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%;">Earlier in April, the foreign ministers of Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia met in Khartoum but talks ended with no deal on the lingering dispute of access to the Nile’s waters. Egypt has called for another meeting in Cairo.</div><div data-elm-loc="4" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%;">Egypt is alarmed the so-called Renaissance Dam that Ethiopia is completing will drastically impact its share of the Nile’s waters.</div><div data-elm-loc="5" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%;">Ethiopia and Sudan are expected to benefit from the construction.</div><div data-elm-loc="6" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%;">Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</div></article></div></div></section>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387513634772047821.post-13096183612192273002018-04-19T02:56:00.001-07:002018-04-19T02:56:20.450-07:00Egypt, Ethiopia fail to resolve differences over Nile dam - GCR<div class="image-holder" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 28px -7px; max-height: 100000px; width: 844.891px;"><img alt="The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, under construction on the Blue Nile, will be the largest hydroelectric power plant in Africa (http://www.geosociety.org/)" class="aligncenter" src="http://www.globalconstructionreview.com/client_media/images/x846gerd_dam_big_1_1.jpg.pagespeed.ic.VQdKCaZNcS.webp" data-pagespeed-url-hash="2441174036" style="border-style: none; display: block; height: auto; max-height: 100000px; width: 844.891px;" title="The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, under construction on the Blue Nile, will be the largest hydroelectric power plant in Africa (http://www.geosociety.org/)" /></div><div class="blog-holder" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; max-height: 100000px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 5px 0px 0px;"><h1 style="font-size: 35px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 40px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; max-height: 100000px;"></h1><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="read" style="color: #006699; max-height: 100000px;"></a><span class="meta" style="color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px 0px 32px; max-height: 100000px;">18 April 2018 | By GCR Staff</span><a class="nbr-comment" href="http://www.globalconstructionreview.com/news/egypt-ethiopia-fail-resolve-differences-over-nile-/#comments" style="color: #006699; float: right; max-height: 100000px; text-decoration-line: none;">0 Comments</a><br /><br />
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</ul><h3 style="max-height: 100000px;">The latest round of talks between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt to resolve differences over Ethiopia’s mega dam nearing completion on the Nile ended without agreement earlier this month.</h3><div style="margin-bottom: 23px; max-height: 100000px;">Since November 2017 the parties have been in stalemate over the scope of impact studies which French consultants BRL and Artelia were commissioned the previous year to carry out.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 23px; max-height: 100000px;">Ethiopia sees its $4bn, 6GW Grand Renaissance Dam as a project of crucial national significance, more than doubling its power generating capacity, but Egypt worries it will stem the flow of the Nile, source of most of its water.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 23px; max-height: 100000px;">Talks were stalled during a political crisis in Ethiopia sparked by the surprise resignation of Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, but resumed on 5 April when Egypt’s foreign minister Sameh Shoukry arrived in Sudan for the latest meeting attended by chiefs of intelligence and ministers of foreign affairs and irrigation of the three countries.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 23px; max-height: 100000px;">But they ended on 6 April without resolution.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 23px; max-height: 100000px;">Egypt’s position regarding the latest failure of negotiations is still under consideration, <a href="https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2018/04/meeting-sudan-ethiopia-egypt-renaissance-dam-ends-impasse.html" style="color: #006699; max-height: 100000px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">reports</a> Al-Monitor.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 23px; max-height: 100000px;"><em style="max-height: 100000px;">Image: The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, under construction on the Blue Nile, will be the largest hydroelectric power plant in Africa (http://www.geosociety.org/)</em></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387513634772047821.post-22306108175314887022018-04-16T08:40:00.001-07:002018-04-16T08:40:08.315-07:00Ethiopia’s reservation on the 1959 agreement caused the failure of Khartoum meeting <div style="background-color: white; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;">
Ethiopia’s reservation on the 1959 agreement caused the failure of Khartoum meeting over Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), said Sudan’s Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour on Saturday.</div>
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<dt><img alt="JPEG - 38.9 kb" height="260" src="https://sudantribune.com/local/cache-vignettes/L390xH260/sudan_fm_ibrahim_ghandour_suna-f637c.jpg?1474198422" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px;" width="390" /></dt>
<dt class="crayon document-titre-18496 spip_doc_titre" style="font-size: 0.9em; font-weight: bold; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; width: 350px;"><strong>Sudan’s FM Ibrahim Ghandour (Photo SUNA)</strong></dt>
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Commenting on the failure of 5 April meeting, Ghandour last Friday told the BBC Arabic that the three countries were about to sign an agreement after a 17-hour meeting when Egypt raised the issue of the disputed Nile Water Agreement between Cairo and Khartoum of 1959 which Ethiopia refused to recognize.</div>
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The Sudanese top diplomat in another interview with the Egyptian official newspaper Al-Ahram gave more details on what happened on Khartoum meeting saying the meeting was constructive and the three delegations reached an understanding over all the outstanding matters, except a small point about the 1959 deal.</div>
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He added all the parties have agreed not to include it in the discussion over the GERD, but the difference emerged when Ethiopia wanted it to be clearly written in the outcome of the meeting and Egypt wanted it to remain a gentleman agreement.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;">
"The small point of disagreement at the Khartoum meeting is related to Ethiopia’s reservation on the Nile Water Agreement between Egypt and Sudan. All of us have accepted it, but some refused to sign (a document stating the acceptance of this reservation) saying they agree on it but do not want to see a written text about it, while another party said it should be written as long as we agreed on it," said Ghandour.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;">
"This little difference on writing a (formal) agreement or only to have it as a Gentleman agreement is what led us to where we are, but I think it is a small point of disagreement," he emphasized.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;">
In a separate statement to the press in Saudi Arabia, Ghandour said the three countries agreed that "no one would be harmed by the dam".</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;">
The other Nile Basin countries including Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda together with Ethiopia in the past said they want to negotiate all the treaties on the Nile water, particularly 1929 Nile Waters Agreement.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;">
Signed on 7 May 1929 between Egypt and Great Britain, the deal gives Cairo the right to veto projects on the Nile that would affect its water share. At the time, London represented Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Sudan.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;">
The 1959 agreement between Egypt and Sudan, which is seen as a complement to the 1929 agreement, gave Egypt the right to 55.5 billion cubic meters of Nile water and Sudan 18.5 billion cubic meters per year.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;">
Last Thursday, Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said that his country had invited Ethiopia and Sudan to resume the GERD negotiations on April 20.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;">
(ST)</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387513634772047821.post-34589429591674206952018-04-07T08:41:00.001-07:002018-04-07T08:41:07.860-07:00Three-nation Nile talks on disputed Ethiopia dam end in deadlock<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yN00mHX-BKw" width="480"></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387513634772047821.post-84512975829020594822018-02-28T01:49:00.001-08:002018-02-28T01:49:12.651-08:00Scientists in 'Egypt Can 3' tackle water shortage crisis - Egypt Today<h1 style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Bold, arial, Georgia, serif; font-size: 26px; font-weight: 500; line-height: 30px; margin: 20px 0px 10px;">Scientists in 'Egypt Can 3' tackle water shortage crisis</h1><div class="write-by-date" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(234, 234, 234); box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, arial, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 3px;"><div class="wirteBy" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #716a67; display: inline-block; font-weight: bold; margin-right: 15px;">By: <a href="https://www.egypttoday.com/Editor/117" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #cd2122; display: inline-block; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Bold, arial, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">Marina Gamil</a></div> <div class="news-date" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #716a67; display: inline-block; font-weight: bold; margin-right: 15px;">Sun, Feb. 25, 2018</div></div><ul class="share_icons" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, arial, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><li class="FaceBooKmSg" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block;"><a class="icon-msngr" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: white; display: block; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Bold, arial, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; height: 35px; margin: 0px; padding: 2px 0px 0px; transition: all 0.5s; width: 35px;" title="Scientists in 'Egypt Can 3' tackle water shortage crisis"><img alt="" src="https://www.egypttoday.com/img/shareIcons/messenger-64-bg@3x.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" title="" /></a></li>
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</ul><div class="article-cont" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, arial, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">CAIRO – 25 February 2018: Egyptian scientists abroad are invited to simplify and reach solutions for crisis of water shortage the country faces, said Minister of Immigration Nabila Makram on Sunday. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />This was during the two-day-conference “Egypt Can…with the Sons of the Nile” that kicked off Sunday in Luxor under the auspices of President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi;the conference is attended by Prime Minister Sherif Ismail and other six ministers. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Makram added that the conference aims to stress Egypt’s strategy to keep its connections with Egyptian expatriates abroad, enabling them to effectively participate in building their country,especially that many Egyptians have achieved great scientific successes in many fields. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />The conference is organized by the Ministry of Immigration and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the participation of many Egyptian experts living abroad. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><img alt="WhatsApp_Image_2018-02-25_at_10.41.59" src="https://www.egypttoday.com/images/Uploads/2018/2/25/95443-WhatsApp_Image_2018-02-25_at_10.41.59.jpeg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" title="WhatsApp_Image_2018-02-25_at_10.41.59" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span class="imgCption" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #716a67; display: block; font-size: 12px; padding: 3px; text-align: center;">Minister of Military Production Mohammed el Assar during "Egypt Can...with the Sons of Nie"-Mohammed Zahr</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />During the two days, Minister of Agriculture Abdel Moneim El Banna, Minister of Military Production Mohammed el Assar, Minister of Irrigation Mohammed Abdel Ati, Minister of Immigration Makram and Luxor’s Governor Mohammed Badr will deliver speeches. Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarekel Mola will be among the attendees. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />The Ministry of Immigration invited Egyptian experts in different fields such as irrigation, agriculture and water resources to attend the conference. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />On the first day of the conference, a session entitled “System of Water, Food and Energy Security and its Effects on Sustainable Development”will be held. It will be attended by Minister of Irrigation Abdel Ati, and Minister of Higher Education Khaled Abdel Ghaffar. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Also, the “Chance to use Renewable Energy in Irrigation and New Communities” session is included in the first day’s program along with a session entitled “Mechanisms to Benefit from Available Water Resources,” which will be attended by Minister of Military Production Assar. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Furthermore, sessions on“Application of Space Technology in Water and Agriculture” and “Investment and Local and International Companies in Drinking Water” will be held on the second day. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><img alt="WhatsApp_Image_2018-02-25_at_11.36.30 (1)" src="https://www.egypttoday.com/images/Uploads/2018/2/25/159704-WhatsApp_Image_2018-02-25_at_11.36.30-(1).jpeg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" title="WhatsApp_Image_2018-02-25_at_11.36.30 (1)" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span class="imgCption" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #716a67; display: block; font-size: 12px; padding: 3px; text-align: center;">"Egypt Can...With the Sons of Nile"-Mohammed Zahr</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />This year witnesses the third session for “Egypt Can” conference;the first edition was held in December 2016 under the title “Egypt Can…with its scientists” while the second one was in July 2017, titled “Egypt Can…with its females.” <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />This conference comes amid a water scarcity problem faced by Egypt due to the uneven water distribution, misuse of water resources, inefficient irrigation techniques and growing population. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Egypt annually needs at least 90 billion cubic meters of water to sufficeit 90 million citizens. However, it currently has only 60 billion cubic meters, of which 55.5 billion cubic meters come from the Nile and five billion cubic meters come from non-renewable subterranean water in deserts; therefore, Egypt suffers from a water deficit of 30 billion cubic meters. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Further decrease in Egypt's water resources is expected in the future as a result of building the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which will affect Egypt’s share of water. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Despite the latest negotiations between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan to resolve the technical issues of the dam, Egypt is keen to expand its desalination projects to overcome any water scarcity problems in the future. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Consequently, the mega-facility, Al-Yusr Plant in Hurghada, was inaugurated in January 2018 to provide the Red Sea governorate with fresh water instead of current pipelines from the Nile.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387513634772047821.post-70762457725606042192018-02-28T01:28:00.001-08:002018-02-28T01:28:49.435-08:00Water wars: Tensions build over a Nile dam in Ethiopia | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 19px; margin-bottom: 1em;"> major drama is building in northeast Africa, among Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, as Ethiopia nears completion of work on a large new dam on the Nile River.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 19px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">Part of the Nile, known as the White Nile, rises in the mountains of Burundi, far south of Egypt in Africa. The Nile eventually pours into the Mediterranean Sea in the north of Egypt. The river has served as the stem of civilizations, dating from thousands of years ago. Its waters are absolutely critical to Egypt, upon which that country’s agriculture, electric power and internal transport are heavily dependent. Without its waters, more Egyptians would starve than do already.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 19px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">Ethiopia has been building for years the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam at its border with Sudan. It’s on what is called the Blue Nile, the river’s other major tributary. The Blue Nile accounts for some 85 percent of the water flowing into the main Nile. Ethiopia is at the point of filling the huge reservoir behind the dam, already, in Egypt’s eyes, putting Egypt’s Nile waters at risk.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 19px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">Egypt’s complaint is that the Ethiopians have built the dam without, or with insufficient, consultation with it, as to its impact on Egypt. Egypt itself built the massive Aswan Dam, with financing help from the Soviet Union, completing it in 1970.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 19px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">Sudan, a very dry country, is happy enough with the new Ethiopian dam, which will make irrigation and thus cultivation in it much more feasible than before, attracting investment, increasing food supplies and bringing other benefits.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 19px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">The United States does not have a dog in the fight, except that it has relatively decent relations with both Egypt and Ethiopia, would not like to see them descend into warfare with each other, and hopes that trouble over the dam will not generate one more war in northeast Africa. There already continues in that region, with American military involvement, the long war between different elements in Somalia, bordering on Ethiopia. The trouble in Somalia started in 1991, and matters there are no better now than they were when the United States first put troops into the conflict in 1992. That war also serves as the justification for the United States maintaining 4,000 troops, jet fighter-bombers and drones in neighboring Djibouti, the former French Somaliland, an expensive U.S. overseas presence.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 19px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">What needs to be done is increased, improved communication and consultation among Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt over the new dam. All three need the Nile water badly and it can probably be divided in such a way that all three can profit from it. Ethiopia and Egypt hissing at each other serves no purpose. Both countries are heavily armed.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 19px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">If the U.S. had an active diplomacy to pursue, it could play a useful role in seeking to resolve this problem. No American government would like to sit down at a table with Sudan, given the problems associated with its regime, but the Nile issue is easily important enough to justify Sudan’s necessary inclusion in talks. They could also serve as a forum to seek to resolve some of America’s other problems with Sudan, including Darfur and the civil war in independent South Sudan.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 19px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">With the Ethiopian dam issue heating up, it could be a good moment for America to step up to the plate to help resolve a serious problem over water, increasingly the basis for major problems in the world.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387513634772047821.post-75743691005337596642018-02-28T01:25:00.001-08:002018-02-28T01:25:21.755-08:00 War Over Water Looms As Ethiopia Nears Completion Of Nile River Dam : NPR<div class="storytitle" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; float: none; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px 140.094px; padding: 0px 15px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;"><h1 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Gotham SSm", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 3.5rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: -0.00625em; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></h1></div><div class="story-tools" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; left: 0px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; top: 45px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 140.094px;"><div aria-label="Share tools" class="share-tools share-tools--primary" style="align-items: center; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; flex-direction: column; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><ul style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><li class="share-tools__service share-tools__service--facebook" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><button class="fbStory589240174" data-metrics="{"action":"Click Facebook","category":"Share Tools","label":"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2018\/02\/27\/589240174\/in-africa-war-over-water-looms-as-ethiopia-nears-completion-of-nile-river-dam"}" data-share-facebook="{"storyId": 589240174 }" style="-webkit-appearance: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url("data:image/svg+xml; background-origin: initial; background-position: center center; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 48px; outline-width: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: -999em; user-select: none; width: 48px;"><span class="share-tools__service-name" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-indent: -999em; vertical-align: baseline;">Facebook</span></button></li>
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padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><time datetime="2018-02-27T16:06:23-05:00" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="date" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">February 27, 2018</span><span class="time" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">4:06 PM ET</span></time></div></div><div class="story-meta__two" style="align-items: center; border: 0px; 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border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: left; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px 140.094px; min-height: 120px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="bucketwrap image large" id="res589252853" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: right; float: none; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 40px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 15px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;"><div class="imagewrap" data-crop-type="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="" class="img" src="https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2018/02/27/ap_173274230327071_wide-a093b73edc6a4a420ca5ac806318a17be68d4612-s800-c85.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 763.906px;" /><br /><br />
<div class="enlarge-options" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div></div><div class="credit-caption" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #767676; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="caption-wrap" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div aria-label="Image caption" class="caption" style="background: 0px 0px; border-bottom: 0px; border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: none; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 763.906px;"><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.2rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 2px; max-width: 55.7em; padding: 12px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Boats sail on the Nile River in Cairo, Egypt, last October. Tensions between Egypt and upstream Nile basin countries, Sudan and Ethiopia, have flared up again over the construction and effects of a massive dam being built by Ethiopia on the Nile River.</div></div></div><span aria-label="Image credit" class="credit" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Amr Nabil/AP</span></div></div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.7rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; margin-bottom: 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">A new mega-dam being built by Ethiopia on the Nile River is threatening to spark a war over water and shift political influence in northeastern Africa.</div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.7rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; margin-bottom: 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">Ethiopia sees the dam as the key to its economic future, but its neighbor to the north, Egypt, fears the dam could spell doom for its water supply, says BBC Africa correspondent Alastair Leithead. The Nile <a href="http://www.fao.org/nr/water/aquastat/countries_regions/EGY/" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #5076b8; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">supplies nearly 85 percent</a> of all water in Egypt, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.</div><div class="bucketwrap internallink insettwocolumn inset2col " id="res589249539" style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: right; float: right; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 27px 15px; padding: 0px 15px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; width: 330.781px; z-index: 1;"><div class="bucket img" style="border-bottom-color: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(224, 224, 224); border-top-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a data-metrics="{"category":"Story to Story","action":"Click Internal Link","label":"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/goatsandsoda\/2015\/03\/26\/395321624\/dont-torpedo-the-dam-full-speed-ahead-for-ethiopias-nile-project"}" href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/03/26/395321624/dont-torpedo-the-dam-full-speed-ahead-for-ethiopias-nile-project" id="featuredStackSquareImage395321624" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #5076b8; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="Don't Torpedo The Dam, Full Speed Ahead For Ethiopia's Nile Project" class="img" src="https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2015/03/25/ap115168702192_sq-e8beb01ecb98e4558f8d904928a040867ad2560d-s400-c85.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; margin: 10px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 80px;" /></a><br /><br />
<div class="bucketblock" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: content-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px 80px; min-height: 62px; padding: 9px 11px 9px 17px; vertical-align: baseline;"><h3 class="slug" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.2rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.27273; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #636363; font-family: "Knockout 31 4r", HelveticaNeue-CondensedBold, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.2rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; letter-spacing: 1px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;">GOATS AND SODA</a></h3><h3 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.27273; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a data-metrics="{"category":"Story to Story","action":"Click Internal Link","label":"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/goatsandsoda\/2015\/03\/26\/395321624\/dont-torpedo-the-dam-full-speed-ahead-for-ethiopias-nile-project"}" href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/03/26/395321624/dont-torpedo-the-dam-full-speed-ahead-for-ethiopias-nile-project" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #5076b8; font-family: "Gotham SSm", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.2rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Don't Torpedo The Dam, Full Speed Ahead For Ethiopia's Nile Project</a></h3></div></div></div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.7rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; margin-bottom: 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">The $4 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam would tower over 500 feet and <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/09/29/egypt-nile-river-danger/679222001/" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #5076b8; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">will generate</a> more than three times the amount of energy produced by the Hoover Dam in the U.S. When completed, it will be the largest dam in Africa and will generate up to 6,450 megawatts of energy.</div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.7rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; margin-bottom: 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">"Egypt has had control politically of the Nile for millennia," Leithead tells <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Here & Now's</em> Jeremy Hobson. "And suddenly Ethiopia has now come along — in the middle of the Arab Spring, they started building this dam — now they can, if they want, to control the flow. They say that's not what this is about."</div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.7rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; margin-bottom: 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">According to the World Bank, about 75 million Ethiopians or three-quarters of the population currently <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.ELC.ACCS.ZS?locations=ET&view=chart" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #5076b8; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">lack access </a>to electricity. The country predicts the energy produced by the mega-dam will help put people to work, Leithead says. Industry growth in the region is a priority because the <a href="http://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/population/" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #5076b8; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">United Nations predicts</a> the population of Africa will double by 2050.</div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.7rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; margin-bottom: 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">"It's not about control of the flow, but providing opportunity for us to develop ourselves through energy development," Seleshi Bekele, Ethiopia's Minister for Water, Irrigation and Electricity, <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-43170408" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #5076b8; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">told the BBC.</a></div><br /><br />
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<div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.7rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; margin-bottom: 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">But Ethiopia's dive head first into the project has real implications for Egypt's water supply. The United Nations is already predicting that Egypt will experience water shortages by 2025.</div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.7rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; margin-bottom: 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">"The pharaohs used to say about Egypt that it was the gift of the Nile," Leithead says. "They used to worship the river as a god. And they now see a country upstream with a big tap that if they want to, they can turn off that river's flow."</div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.7rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; margin-bottom: 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">The dam could exacerbate shortages because as the reservoir behind it fills up, the Nile's water levels <a href="http://www.geosociety.org/gsatoday/archive/27/5/article/GSATG312A.1.htm" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #5076b8; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">could drop</a> by 25 percent for up to seven years, the Geological Society of America estimates.</div><div class="bucketwrap internallink insettwocolumn inset2col " id="res589250672" style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: right; float: right; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 27px 15px; padding: 0px 15px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; width: 330.781px; z-index: 1;"><div class="bucket img" style="border-bottom-color: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(224, 224, 224); border-top-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a data-metrics="{"category":"Story to Story","action":"Click Internal Link","label":"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/parallels\/2017\/08\/13\/542645647\/in-egypt-a-rising-sea-and-growing-worries-about-climate-changes-effects"}" href="https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2017/08/13/542645647/in-egypt-a-rising-sea-and-growing-worries-about-climate-changes-effects" id="featuredStackSquareImage542645647" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #5076b8; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="In Egypt, A Rising Sea — And Growing Worries About Climate Change's Effects" class="img" src="https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2017/08/10/gettyimages-494227492_sq-992777be8c8c81658452306e66791f901abc4317-s400-c85.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; margin: 10px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 80px;" /></a><br /><br />
<div class="bucketblock" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: content-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px 80px; min-height: 62px; padding: 9px 11px 9px 17px; vertical-align: baseline;"><h3 class="slug" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.2rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.27273; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #636363; font-family: "Knockout 31 4r", HelveticaNeue-CondensedBold, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.2rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; letter-spacing: 1px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;">PARALLELS</a></h3><h3 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.27273; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a data-metrics="{"category":"Story to Story","action":"Click Internal Link","label":"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/parallels\/2017\/08\/13\/542645647\/in-egypt-a-rising-sea-and-growing-worries-about-climate-changes-effects"}" href="https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2017/08/13/542645647/in-egypt-a-rising-sea-and-growing-worries-about-climate-changes-effects" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #5076b8; font-family: "Gotham SSm", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.2rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In Egypt, A Rising Sea — And Growing Worries About Climate Change's Effects</a></h3></div></div></div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.7rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; margin-bottom: 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is pressing Ethiopia to slow down the timeline for filling up the reservoir, but talks between the two countries are stalled, Leithead says.</div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.7rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; margin-bottom: 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">The mega-dam could both politically and economically transform the Horn of Africa. For some countries downstream, like Sudan, it will provide cheaper electricity, and will help regulate the river's water levels, which are prone to yearly flooding. But Sudan's support could <a href="http://foreignpolicy.com/2018/01/11/egypt-sudan-spat-muddies-prospects-for-deal-on-big-nile-dam-renaissance-gerd-ethiopia-sisi-turkey/" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #5076b8; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">potentially disrupt</a> a 1959 treaty with Egypt that allocates the Nile's waters between the two countries.</div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.7rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; margin-bottom: 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">"If Egypt 'loses' Sudan — the only country it has a water allocation agreement with, and the only Nile riparian country which can pose significant threats to waters flowing downstream due to its high irrigation potential — that would be extremely risky for Egypt," Ana Cascão, an expert on the politics of the Nile, told <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Foreign Policy</em>.</div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.7rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; margin-bottom: 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">Ethiopia's drive to complete the project, which the government is funding entirely, echoes the attitude of Egypt when it built the Aswan High Dam in the 1960s, Leithead adds.</div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.7rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.70588; margin-bottom: 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">"You look back at the old footage from a few decades ago in the '60s when Egypt was building the Aswan High Dam, and you see the kind of nationalism, the kind of, 'We are behind this project. This is us as a country doing something dramatic,'" he says. "That is what Ethiopia is doing right now."</div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387513634772047821.post-20625651590380480812018-02-03T13:27:00.001-08:002018-02-03T13:27:29.448-08:00Ethiopia Dam Dispute: Dam dispute spills over <iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CEPB5T0xHj8" width="560"></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387513634772047821.post-69798947897234151382018-01-22T00:59:00.001-08:002018-01-22T00:59:25.456-08:00Egypt’s Sisi Fires Spy Chief as Shuffle of Top Aides Continues - The New York Times<header class="story-header" id="story-header" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; position: relative;"><div class="story-meta " id="story-meta" style="margin-bottom: 20px;"><h1 class="headline" id="headline" itemprop="headline" style="font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-feature-settings: 'kern' 1; font-size: 2.125rem; font-style: italic; line-height: 2.375rem; margin: 0px 0px 10px; visibility: visible;"><br /></h1><div class="story-meta-footer" id="story-meta-footer" style="align-items: center; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top: 1px solid rgb(226, 226, 226); display: flex; flex-direction: row; justify-content: space-between; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-top: 14px;"><div class="byline-dateline" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-right: 45px;"><span class="byline" itemid="https://www.nytimes.com/by/declan-walsh" itemprop="author creator" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" style="font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; font-weight: 700; line-height: 0.75rem; margin-right: 12px;">By <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/declan-walsh" style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;" title="More Articles by DECLAN WALSH"><span class="byline-author" data-byline-name="DECLAN WALSH" data-twitter-handle="declanwalsh" itemprop="name" style="white-space: nowrap;">DECLAN WALSH</span></a></span><time class="dateline" content="2018-01-19T11:36:04-05:00" datetime="2018-01-19T11:36:04-05:00" itemprop="dateModified" style="font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.75rem; margin-left: 0px; white-space: nowrap;">JAN. 18, 2018</time></div><div class="story-meta-footer-sharetools" style="align-items: baseline; align-self: center; display: flex; flex-shrink: 0; margin-top: 0px;"><div aria-label="tools" class="sharetools theme-classic sharetools-story-meta-footer " data-author="By DECLAN WALSH" data-description="President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi appointed a close ally to the intelligence position, an abrupt move that comes just months after he fired his defense chief." data-media="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/01/19/world/19egypt/merlin_132460952_9ce5e78b-804c-42ce-b321-8e09cbc57248-jumbo.jpg" data-publish-date="January 18, 2018" data-share-tools-initialized="1" data-shares="facebook,twitter,email,show-all,save" data-title="Egypt’s Sisi Fires Spy Chief as Shuffle of Top Aides Continues" data-url="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/18/world/middleeast/egypt-sisi-spy-chief.html" id="sharetools-story-meta-footer" role="group"><a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/18/world/middleeast/egypt-sisi-spy-chief.html#story-continues-1" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration-line: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><span class="sharetools-label visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Share This Page</span><ul class="sharetools-menu" style="display: flex; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><li class="sharetool facebook-sharetool" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-right: 15px;"><a data-modal-title="" data-share="facebook" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: #326891; display: inline-block;"><span class="icon sprite-icon" style="background-image: url("/assets/article/20180119-170021/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.svg"); background-position: -66px -54px; background-repeat: no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 25px; line-height: 0; vertical-align: middle; width: 25px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text " style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Share</span></a></li>
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</ul></div></div></div></div></header><div class="story-body-supplemental" style="display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; justify-content: space-between;"><div class="story-body story-body-1" style="flex-grow: 0; position: relative; width: 705px;"><figure aria-label="media" class="media photo lede layout-large-horizontal" data-media-action="modal" id="media-100000005684362" itemid="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/01/19/world/19egypt/merlin_132460952_9ce5e78b-804c-42ce-b321-8e09cbc57248-master768.jpg" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" role="group" style="clear: both; display: flex; flex-direction: column; margin: 0px 0px 45px; position: relative; width: 705px;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Photo</span><div class="image" style="cursor: pointer; flex-shrink: 0; margin-bottom: 7px; position: relative;"><img alt="" class="media-viewer-candidate" data-mediaviewer-caption="A campaign billboard for President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt on Thursday in Cairo. Mr. Sisi fired his spy chief on Thursday." data-mediaviewer-credit="Amir Makar/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images" data-mediaviewer-src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/01/19/world/19egypt/merlin_132460952_9ce5e78b-804c-42ce-b321-8e09cbc57248-superJumbo.jpg" itemid="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/01/19/world/19egypt/merlin_132460952_9ce5e78b-804c-42ce-b321-8e09cbc57248-master768.jpg" itemprop="url" src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/01/19/world/19egypt/merlin_132460952_9ce5e78b-804c-42ce-b321-8e09cbc57248-master768.jpg" style="display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: 705px;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="border-radius: 6px; border: 1px solid rgba(200, 200, 200, 0.8); bottom: 15px; cursor: pointer; left: 15px; opacity: 0; position: absolute; transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; z-index: 5;"><span class="icon sprite-icon" style="background-image: url("/assets/article/20180119-170021/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.svg"); background-position: -256px -135px; background-repeat: no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 38px; line-height: 0; vertical-align: middle; width: 38px;"></span></div></div><figcaption class="caption" itemprop="caption description" style="color: #666666; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; max-width: 630px;"><span class="caption-text">A campaign billboard for President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt on Thursday in Cairo. Mr. Sisi fired his spy chief on Thursday.</span> <span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 1rem;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Credit</span>Amir Makar/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images</span></figcaption></figure><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="162" data-total-count="162" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 75px; max-width: none; width: 570px;">Three months ago, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt had three close advisers: his army chief, his spy boss and his chief of staff. Just one still has a job.</div><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="135" data-total-count="297" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 75px; max-width: none; width: 570px;">On Thursday, he fired the spy chief, Khaled Fawzy, and replaced him with his chief of staff. In October, he fired the chief of defense.</div><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="275" data-total-count="572" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 75px; max-width: none; width: 570px;">In a curt statement, Mr. Sisi’s office did not offer a reason for the dismissal of Mr. Fawzy, who had led the General Intelligence Service since <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/22/world/middleeast/egypts-president-replaces-intelligence-chief.html" style="color: #326891;">December 2014</a> and was credited with spearheading the agency’s revival after its failure to anticipate the Arab Spring in 2011.</div><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="210" data-total-count="782" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 75px; max-width: none; width: 570px;">But there were signs the decision was made quickly, mostly notably in the choice of Mr. Sisi’s longtime aide and chief of staff, Abbas Kemal, to fill the position temporarily until another successor is found.</div><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="285" data-total-count="1067" id="story-continues-1" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 75px; max-width: none; width: 570px;">The abrupt change comes at a delicate moment for Egypt’s leader, who is expected to soon announce his run for re-election in a vote that starts in March, and days before a visit to Cairo by Vice President Mike Pence. The visit, originally scheduled for December, is set for Saturday.</div><a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/18/world/middleeast/egypt-sisi-spy-chief.html#story-continues-2" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration-line: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a></div><div class="supplemental first" data-between-flex-ads="true" data-flex-ad-adjacency="true" data-last-item-height="945" data-max-items="1" data-minimum="400" data-post-height="1059" data-pre-height="1059" data-remaining="114" id="supplemental-1" style="display: flex; flex-flow: column nowrap; justify-content: flex-start; width: 360px;"><div class="supplemental-items" data-no-ads="true" data-no-med-rec="true" data-supplemental-order="0" style="display: flex; flex-flow: column nowrap; height: 700px; justify-content: space-between; margin-bottom: 45px; max-height: 900px;"><aside class="marginalia related-combined-coverage-marginalia marginalia-item nocontent robots-nocontent" data-marginalia-type="sprinkled" module="Related-CombinedMarginalia" role="complementary" style="border-top: none; flex-shrink: 0; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 75px; padding-top: 0px; width: 360px;"><div class="nocontent robots-nocontent"><header><h2 class="module-heading" style="font-family: franklin-normal-700, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.6875rem; margin: 0px 0px 15px; text-transform: uppercase;">RELATED COVERAGE</h2></header><ul style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><li style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 15px;"><article class="story theme-summary "><a class="story-link" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/10/world/middleeast/egypt-times-investigation-jerusalem.html" style="align-items: center; color: #326891; display: flex; line-height: 0; text-decoration-line: none;"><div class="thumb" style="clear: none; cursor: pointer; flex-shrink: 0; float: left; height: auto; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 65px; position: relative; width: 65px;"><img alt="" role="presentation" src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/01/11/world/middleeast/11egypt/11egypt-thumbStandard.jpg" style="border: none; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: auto;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="bottom: 5.1875px; left: 5.1875px; position: absolute;"></div></div><div class="story-body"><h2 class="headline" style="color: black; cursor: pointer; font-family: cheltenham-normal-400, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.125rem; margin: 0px;"><span class="title" style="margin-right: 4px;">Egypt Opens Criminal Inquiry Over New York Times Article</span> <time class="dateline" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; white-space: nowrap;">JAN. 10, 2018</time></h2></div></a></article></li>
<li style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 15px;"><article class="story theme-summary "><a class="story-link" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/06/world/middleeast/egypt-jerusalem-talk-shows.html" style="align-items: center; color: #326891; display: flex; line-height: 0; text-decoration-line: none;"><div class="thumb" style="clear: none; cursor: pointer; flex-shrink: 0; float: left; height: auto; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 65px; position: relative; width: 65px;"><img alt="" role="presentation" src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/01/06/world/06jerusalem/06jerusalem-thumbStandard-v2.jpg" style="border: none; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: auto;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="bottom: 5.1875px; left: 5.1875px; position: absolute;"></div></div><div class="story-body"><h2 class="headline" style="color: black; cursor: pointer; font-family: cheltenham-normal-400, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.125rem; margin: 0px;"><span class="title" style="margin-right: 4px;">Tapes Reveal Egyptian Leaders’ Tacit Acceptance of Jerusalem Move</span> <time class="dateline" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; white-space: nowrap;">JAN. 6, 2018</time></h2></div></a></article></li>
<li style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 15px;"><article class="story theme-summary "><a class="story-link" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/22/world/middleeast/egypts-president-replaces-intelligence-chief.html" style="align-items: center; color: #326891; display: flex; line-height: 0; text-decoration-line: none;"><div class="story-body"><h2 class="headline" style="color: black; cursor: pointer; font-family: cheltenham-normal-400, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.125rem; margin: 0px;"><span class="title" style="margin-right: 4px;">Egypt’s President Replaces Influential Intelligence Chief</span><time class="dateline" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; white-space: nowrap;">DEC. 21, 2014</time></h2></div></a></article></li>
</ul></div></aside></div></div></div><div class="story-interrupter" id="story-continues-2"><div class="ad flex-ad nocontent robots-nocontent ad-loaded" data-google-query-id="CPHlvZaa69gCFYRAGQodPeAB_A" id="FlexAd" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(235, 235, 235); border-top: 1px solid rgb(235, 235, 235); display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; justify-content: center; margin: 20px 0px 37px; padding-bottom: 25px; padding-top: 12px; width: 1125px;"><div class="ad-header" style="text-align: center; width: 1125px;"><div style="color: #cccccc; font-family: franklin-normal-400, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.6875rem; margin-bottom: 11px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">ADVERTISEMENT</div></div><a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/18/world/middleeast/egypt-sisi-spy-chief.html#story-continues-3" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration-line: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><div class="flex-ad-creative"></div><div id="google_ads_iframe_/29390238/NYT/world/middleeast_9__container__" style="border: 0pt none; display: inline-block; height: 90px; width: 728px;"><iframe data-is-safeframe="true" frameborder="0" height="90" id="google_ads_iframe_/29390238/NYT/world/middleeast_9" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="" sandbox="allow-forms allow-pointer-lock allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation" scrolling="no" src="https://tpc.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-15/html/container.html" style="border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;" title="3rd party ad content" width="728"></iframe></div></div></div><div class="story-body-supplemental" style="display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; justify-content: space-between;"><div class="story-body story-body-2" style="flex-grow: 0; position: relative; width: 705px;"><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="213" data-total-count="1280" id="story-continues-3" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 75px; max-width: none; width: 570px;">The election is not expected to pose much of a problem for Mr. Sisi. Several potential candidates have complained of being pressured to quit, hounded through the courts, or threatened with corruption prosecutions.</div><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="166" data-total-count="1446" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 75px; max-width: none; width: 570px;">The atmosphere is not conducive to “honest competition,” Anwar Sadat, a nephew of the former president, who had considered running, said in a statement on Monday.</div><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="444" data-total-count="1890" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 75px; max-width: none; width: 570px;">But Mr. Sisi faces major challenges in foreign policy, an area where the intelligence service under Mr. Fawzy had forcefully re-exerted its influence, at times nudging aside the Foreign Ministry, analysts say. It midwifed a unity deal between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority in October, played a role in relations with the United States and asserted itself as a player in Egypt’s row with Ethiopia over a huge dam being built on the Nile.</div><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="351" data-total-count="2241" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 75px; max-width: none; width: 570px;">The firing also comes amid <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/10/world/middleeast/egypt-times-investigation-jerusalem.html" style="color: #326891;">a criminal investigation</a> over a recent <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/06/world/middleeast/egypt-jerusalem-talk-shows.html" style="color: #326891;">New York Times article</a> based on leaked audio recordings of an Egyptian intelligence officer. The article described covert efforts to swing Egyptian public opinion in favor of the American recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, a position contrary to Egypt’s public position.</div><figure aria-label="media" class="media photo embedded layout-large-vertical media-100000005684363" data-media-action="modal" id="media-100000005684363" itemid="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/01/19/world/19egypt2/merlin_132481028_06c7da56-1e29-43e6-908b-9fa2a927e0d8-blog427.jpg" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" role="group" style="align-items: flex-end; clear: both; display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin: 45px 75px; max-width: none; position: relative; width: 570px;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Photo</span><div class="image" style="cursor: pointer; flex-shrink: 0; margin-bottom: 0px; position: relative; width: 360px;"><img alt="" class="media-viewer-candidate" data-mediaviewer-caption="Khaled Fawzy, dismissed on Thursday, was considered a hard-liner on security." data-mediaviewer-credit="Khalil Hamra/Associated Press" data-mediaviewer-src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/01/19/world/19egypt2/merlin_132481028_06c7da56-1e29-43e6-908b-9fa2a927e0d8-superJumbo.jpg" itemid="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/01/19/world/19egypt2/merlin_132481028_06c7da56-1e29-43e6-908b-9fa2a927e0d8-blog427.jpg" itemprop="url" src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/01/19/world/19egypt2/merlin_132481028_06c7da56-1e29-43e6-908b-9fa2a927e0d8-blog427.jpg" style="display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: 360px;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="border-radius: 6px; border: 1px solid rgba(200, 200, 200, 0.8); bottom: 15px; cursor: pointer; left: 15px; opacity: 0; position: absolute; transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; z-index: 5;"><span class="icon sprite-icon" style="background-image: url("/assets/article/20180119-170021/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.svg"); background-position: -256px -135px; background-repeat: no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 38px; line-height: 0; vertical-align: middle; width: 38px;"></span></div></div><figcaption class="caption" itemprop="caption description" style="color: #666666; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; margin-bottom: 30px; margin-left: 15px; margin-right: 0px; max-width: 100%;"><span class="caption-text">Khaled Fawzy, dismissed on Thursday, was considered a hard-liner on security.</span><span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 1rem;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Credit</span>Khalil Hamra/Associated Press</span></figcaption></figure><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="247" data-total-count="2488" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 75px; max-width: none; width: 570px;">Egyptian officials disputed the report, which created an uproar in Parliament, with some legislators saying it was part of an international conspiracy to embarrass Egypt. At least one person on the leaked tapes has been interviewed by prosecutors.</div><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="261" data-total-count="2749" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 75px; max-width: none; width: 570px;">A furor has also erupted over the $4.8 billion Ethiopian dam, which is due to be completed next year. Egyptian experts fear it will greatly curtail their share of the river water as the dammed area is filled, which experts say could take from three to 12 years.</div><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="282" data-total-count="3031" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 75px; max-width: none; width: 570px;">Mr. Sisi emerged grim-faced from a meeting in Cairo on Thursday with the prime minister of Ethiopia, Hailemariam Desalegn, at which they failed to resolve a dispute over the dam’s impact. At a joint news conference, Mr. Sisi spoke of “extreme concern” at the lack of progress.</div><div aria-labeledby="newsletter-promo-heading" class="newsletter-signup auto-newsletter" data-newsletter-productcode="" data-newsletter-producttitle="" id="newsletter-promo" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top: 1px solid rgb(226, 226, 226); clear: left; float: left; margin: 7px 30px 15px 75px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-top: 15px; width: 300px;"><h2 class="visually-hidden" id="newsletter-promo-heading" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.25rem; height: 1px; line-height: 1.375rem; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Newsletter Sign Up</h2><a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/18/world/middleeast/egypt-sisi-spy-chief.html#continues-post-newsletter" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); 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</ul></div><div id="#continues-post-newsletter"></div><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="306" data-total-count="3337" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 75px; max-width: none; width: 570px;">A dispute over Egypt’s share of the Nile waters and controversy over his position on Jerusalem are headaches Mr. Sisi could do without. And whatever the reason for Mr. Fawzy’s defenestration, it underscores how Egypt’s leader is willing to drop his closest allies if he deems it in his best interest.</div><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="227" data-total-count="3564" id="story-continues-4" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 75px; max-width: none; width: 570px;">Mr. Sisi’s firing of his defense chief, Gen. Mahmoud Hegazy, in October was greeted with surprise, not least because the two men are linked through marriage. One of Mr. Sisi’s sons is married to General Hegazy’s daughter.</div><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="259" data-total-count="3823" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 75px; max-width: none; width: 570px;">That dismissal, like Mr. Fawzy’s on Thursday, was sudden, unexpected and unexplained. Both also followed episodes embarrassing to Mr. Sisi’s government — in the case of General Hegazy, a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/21/world/middleeast/egypt-ambush-hasm.html" style="color: #326891;">militant ambush</a> of security forces that killed at least 16 people.</div><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="374" data-total-count="4197" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 75px; max-width: none; width: 570px;">Thanks in part to Mr. Fawzy’s efforts to claw back influence, the General Intelligence Service had become an important channel in relations between the United States and Egypt in recent years. The spy agency <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/07/egypt-lobbying-sisi-trump-muslim-brotherhood/532227/" style="color: #326891;">hired</a> Weber Shandwick, a public relations agency based in New York, to represent its interests, before the firm said it stopping doing work for the service in July.</div><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="250" data-total-count="4447" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 75px; max-width: none; width: 570px;">But some American officials had found it hard to work with Mr. Fawzy, who backed harsh measures against foreign aid agencies in Egypt and saw Egypt’s woes as a product of foreign meddling, said Andrew Miller of the Project on Middle East Democracy.</div><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="285" data-total-count="4732" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 75px; max-width: none; width: 570px;">“He was erratic, conspiratorial in nature and harbored a lot of anti-American suspicions,” said Mr. Miller, who until last year worked on Egypt at the State Department. “He believes that the 2011 uprising was the result of an external conspiracy rather than internal upheaval.”</div><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="485" data-total-count="5217" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 75px; max-width: none; width: 570px;">Mr. Kemal, the new spy chief, is considered a more moderate figure. A former army officer, he served as director of Mr. Sisi’s office when he was head of Military Intelligence, between 2010 and 2012. He stayed with Mr. Sisi after the military swept him to power in 2013, but was embarrassed by a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/13/world/middleeast/leaks-gain-credibility-and-potential-to-embarrass-egypts-leaders.html" style="color: #326891;">series of audio leaks</a>, apparently recorded in his office, in which Mr. Sisi and his generals could be heard mocking other Arab countries and discussing plans to manipulate public opinion.</div><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="251" data-total-count="5468" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 75px; max-width: none; width: 570px;">Mr. Sisi’s son Mahmoud, who works at the General Intelligence Service, is likely to retain an influential role. On at least one occasion, he accompanied Mr. Fawzy on a visit to Washington to meet with Obama administration officials, Mr. Miller said.</div><div class="addenda" id="addenda" style="margin-bottom: 30px; width: 570px;"><div class="story-addendum story-content theme-correction" style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1rem; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 75px; margin-right: 0px; max-width: none; width: 570px;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">Correction: January 19, 2018 </span><br /><div style="font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em;">An earlier version of this article referred incorrectly to the relationship between the General Intelligence Service and the public relations agency Weber Shandwick. The agency said it stopped doing work for the service in July; it is not currently representing the service.</div><div><br /></div></div></div><footer class="story-footer story-content" style="clear: both; margin-left: 75px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 24px; max-width: none; position: relative; width: 570px;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 16px;"></span><div class="story-meta" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><div class="story-notes"></div></div></footer></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387513634772047821.post-17187666053767011892018-01-22T00:57:00.001-08:002018-01-22T00:57:28.249-08:00Despite Cordial Meeting, Egypt and Ethiopia Remain at Odds Over Nile Dam<div class="header-news" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #434343; font-family: "Gotham A", "Gotham B", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 40px; margin-top: -3px;"><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 30px; font-weight: 500; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 0px; overflow: hidden;"><br /></h2><div class="description" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><a class="author author-date" href="https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/authors/653/robbie-corey-boulet" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #434343; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;">Robbie Corey-Boulet</a> <span class="date" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #878787; white-space: nowrap;">Friday, Jan. 19, 2018</span></div></div><div class="styles-text" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #434343; font-family: "Gotham Narrow A", "Gotham Narrow B", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 20px;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Editor’s Note: Every Friday, WPR Associate Editor Robbie Corey-Boulet curates the top news and analysis from and about the African continent.</em><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />It was a busy week for diplomacy related to a long-running dispute over the Nile River, culminating Thursday in Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn’s first visit to Egypt. “We must make sure that this great river never becomes an object of competition, mistrust or conflict,” Hailemariam <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-egypt-politics-ethiopia/egypt-ethiopia-leaders-say-nile-dam-must-not-ruin-relations-idUSKBN1F71Z1" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ed9b0e; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;" target="_blank">said in Cairo</a>. But recent events, including statements from earlier in the week, highlight the extent to which it already has.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Ethiopia is nearing completion of its Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, an enormous project on the Nile’s main tributary that is estimated to cost up to $5 billion. The Ethiopian government says the dam is essential for expanding access to electricity and fostering development. Egypt, however, says the project, in particular plans to fill the dam’s reservoir, threatens access to water Egyptians need to survive. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />As Julian Hattem <a href="https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/22640/how-egypt-is-slowly-losing-its-hold-over-the-nile-river" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ed9b0e; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;" target="_blank">reported for WPR</a> last July, the Nile has been a regular source of discord, with Egyptian officials talking of sabotaging projects that might disrupt water flow and floating the possibility of military action. The dispute has drawn in several countries; Egypt accuses its neighbor, Sudan, of siding with Ethiopia, and is also wary of Turkish meddling.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Ahead of Hailemariam’s visit, President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi had conciliatory words for both Sudan and Ethiopia, trying to assure them he had no desire for conflict. “We are not prepared to go to war against our brethren or anyone else for that matter,” he <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/egypts-leader-seeks-defuse-tension-sudan-ethiopia-52353338" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ed9b0e; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;" target="_blank">said Monday</a>. “I am saying this as a clear message to our brothers in Sudan and Ethiopia.” His appearance with Hailemariam on Thursday was similarly friendly, though Sissi noted his “<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-egypt-politics-ethiopia/egypt-ethiopia-leaders-say-nile-dam-must-not-ruin-relations-idUSKBN1F71Z1" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ed9b0e; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;" target="_blank">extreme concern</a>” over the stalemate on the substance of talks. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Indeed, discussions about future management of the Nile, including a summit hosted by Uganda last year, have underscored the apparent intractability of the dispute, and all parties clearly recognize just how high the stakes are. As Rashid Abdi, project director for the Horn of Africa for the International Crisis Group, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/troubled-waters-egypt-and-ethiopia-wrangle-over-nile-dam-1516185001" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ed9b0e; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;" target="_blank">told The Wall Street Journal</a> this week, the dispute “is a proxy conflict over who should be the regional hegemon, Egypt or Ethiopia.”<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">This Week’s WPR Africa Coverage</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />On WPR this week, we published an <a href="https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/23984/kabila-must-go-how-gridlock-in-kinshasa-is-driving-violence-in-eastern-congo" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ed9b0e; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;" target="_blank">in-depth report</a> by Philip Kleinfeld examining how rebel groups in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are moving beyond local concerns and eyeing the toppling of President Joseph Kabila in Kinshasa. Though there are serious obstacles to their making a run on the capital, it appears the country’s political gridlock is aggravating a security situation that was already grim. Our <a href="https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/trend-lines/24010/nigeria-is-being-dragged-into-cameroon-s-anglophone-crisis-how-will-it-respond" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ed9b0e; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;" target="_blank">latest update</a> on the Anglophone crisis in Cameroon looks at how Nigeria is increasingly being roped into the unrest and how it’s likely to respond. And we <a href="https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/trend-lines/23985/is-a-deal-over-the-displaced-of-tawergha-a-milestone-in-libyan-reconciliation" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ed9b0e; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;" target="_blank">published an interview</a> with Jalel Harchaoui about the Tawergha community in the years since Libya’s civil war and what their story says about broader prospects for reconciliation. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Keep up to date on Africa news with our daily curated <a href="https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/world-news-wire#africa" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ed9b0e; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;" target="_blank">Africa news wire</a>. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Here’s a rundown of news from elsewhere on the continent: <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Southern Africa</span> <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Zimbabwe</em>: President Emmerson Mnangagwa <a href="http://www.startribune.com/zimbabwe-s-president-says-elections-to-be-in-may-or-june/469888373/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ed9b0e; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;" target="_blank">announced</a> that elections intended to cement the transition away from Robert Mugabe would be held “in four to five months’ time.” Mnangagwa also told The Financial Times that, unlike Mugabe, he would welcome foreign observers. As he prepared to head to Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum, Mnangagwa <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-zimbabwe-mnangagwa-economy/zimbabwe-president-says-his-nation-is-open-for-business-ahead-of-davos-idUSKBN1F718J" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ed9b0e; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;" target="_blank">declared</a> that his country was “open for business.” <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">South Africa</em>: Pretoria joined the chorus of African capitals voicing outrage in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump’s slur of African nations as “shithole” countries, and the foreign affairs ministry summoned American diplomats for a meeting. In a statement, the ministry said, “It was noted that Africa and the African diaspora has contributed significantly to the United States and to its development into the country that it is today, and that the African and international reaction to the alleged statements clearly serve as a united affirmation of the dignity of the people of Africa and the African diaspora.” On the domestic front, Cyril Ramaphosa, the newly elected head of the African National Congress, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-safrica-politics/south-africas-ramaphosa-piles-pressure-on-zuma-with-anti-graft-call-idUSKBN1F70QZ" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ed9b0e; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;" target="_blank">pressed on with his anti-corruption drive</a> amid continued speculation that President Jacob Zuma would be pressured into leaving office prematurely. James Hamill, whose new book on South Africa <a href="http://www.iiss.org/en/publications/adelphi/by%20year/2017-cd3c/africas-lost-leader-5842" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ed9b0e; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;" target="_blank">comes out next week</a>, has written extensively for WPR about South Africa’s political future, <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/11ZkYd5NszgaLnFSzMtg0hFNfLoicQKPqRwl5dbibAoM/edit" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ed9b0e; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;" target="_blank">most recently</a> in December following Ramaphosa’s election to the ANC presidency. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">North Africa</span> <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Tunisia</em>: Protests over high prices and other economic woes continued, despite a government pledge to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tunisia-protests/tunisia-will-increase-aid-for-poor-in-response-to-protests-idUSKBN1F20I9" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ed9b0e; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;" target="_blank">allocate an additional $70 million</a> for the poor. Soccer fans were among those <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/tunisian-soccer-fans-clash-with-police-amid-economic-unrest/2018/01/15/5af3c0b2-fa37-11e7-9b5d-bbf0da31214d_story.html?utm_term=.08cf14df3f78" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ed9b0e; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;" target="_blank">clashing with security forces</a> on Monday. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Sudan</em>: Protests also continued in Khartoum, where opposition leader Sadiq al-Mahdi urged people to “rise against the regime,” according to the BBC. Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sudan-politics/sudanese-police-fire-tear-gas-arrest-protesters-in-khartoum-idUSKBN1F514H" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ed9b0e; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;" target="_blank">reported</a> that police “fired tear gas, struck demonstrators with batons and arrested several people” on Tuesday. While frustration over rising bread costs and the high cost of living in general was the immediate catalyst for the protests, they also featured calls for regime change. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Central Africa</span> <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Republic of Congo</em>: About a month after the government announced it had signed a cease-fire deal with the Ntsiloulou rebel group, known as the “Ninjas,” the two sides <a href="https://citizen.co.za/news/news-africa/1786420/congo-rebellion-peace/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ed9b0e; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;" target="_blank">met this week</a> for talks on its implementation. The conflict in the southeastern Pool region dates back to President Denis Sassou Nguesso’s controversial re-election in 2016. In late December, rebel leader Frederick Bintsamou, alias Pastor Ntumi, said he had not been given a chance to review the cease-fire deal and called for negotiations. Earlier this month, we <a href="https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/trend-lines/23959/the-cease-fire-in-the-republic-of-congo-is-the-latest-sign-of-sassou-nguesso-s-weakness" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ed9b0e; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;" target="_blank">wrote about the humanitarian toll</a> of the conflict, which has been largely shielded from public view, as well as the ever-weakening position of Sassou Nguesso’s government. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box;"><img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/worldpoliticsreview/drc_peacekeepers_01162018_1.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 600px; vertical-align: middle; width: 600px;" width="600px" /></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; text-align: center;"><small style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 13.6px;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Two U.N. soldiers stand guard in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nov. 30, 2012</em></small></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; text-align: center;"><small style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 13.6px;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">(AP photo by Jerome Delay).</em></small></div><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Democratic Republic of Congo</em>: Jean-Philippe Chauzy, chief of the mission in Congo for the International Organization for Migration, <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/congo-armes-groups-uniting-against-kabila/4212018.html" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ed9b0e; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;" target="_blank">warned this week</a> that rebel groups in the east were banding together and adopting a “political agenda.” As mentioned, Philip Kleinfeld examined this same development in a <a href="https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/23984/kabila-must-go-how-gridlock-in-kinshasa-is-driving-violence-in-eastern-congo" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ed9b0e; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;" target="_blank">feature for WPR</a>. The same day Chauzy addressed a news conference in Geneva, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni accused Congo’s U.N. peacekeeping mission of “<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-uganda-security/ugandas-museveni-accuses-u-n-of-preserving-terrorism-in-eastern-congo-idUSKBN1F61I8" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ed9b0e; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;" target="_blank">preserving terrorism</a>” in the east. His remarks came shortly after Congo’s army <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-congo-violence/congo-launches-offensive-against-ugandan-rebels-in-its-east-idUSKBN1F20TN" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ed9b0e; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;" target="_blank">launched an offensive</a> against the Allied Defense Forces, a notorious Ugandan rebel group believed to have been behind the deaths of 15 peacekeepers last month. Violence also continued in the central Kasai region, where four soldiers <a href="http://www.gulf-times.com/story/578117/4-Congo-soldiers-hacked-to-death-in-restive-Kasai" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ed9b0e; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;" target="_blank">were hacked to death</a> by men armed with machetes. The U.N. <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-congo-un-hunger-aid/famine-threatens-conflict-hit-central-congo-as-aid-dries-up-un-idUSKBN1F62K4" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ed9b0e; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;" target="_blank">warned this week</a> that hundreds of thousands of people in the Kasai region were at risk of starvation. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">East Africa</span> <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Uganda</em>: The Uganda Law Society <a href="https://www.news24.com/Africa/News/challenge-in-uganda-against-removing-presidential-age-limit-20180117" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ed9b0e; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;" target="_blank">filed a legal challenge</a> to a constitutional amendment removing the country’s presidential age limit, which would allow President Yoweri Museveni to run for re-election in 2021. The government is working on its response. Back in October, two months before lawmakers approved the measure, Julian Hattem <a href="https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/23309/uganda-clears-the-path-for-its-own-president-for-life" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ed9b0e; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;" target="_blank">reported for WPR</a> about the uproar it had caused, and how Museveni had evolved from the idealistic young leader who once bemoaned African presidents’ tendency to stay in office for too long. Also this week, Museveni announced during a graduation ceremony for prison wardens that he intended to <a href="https://www.news24.com/Africa/News/ugandas-leader-to-sign-death-warrants-again-after-19-years-20180118" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ed9b0e; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;" target="_blank">bring back the death penalty</a> as a crime-fighting measure. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Burundi</em>: Voice of America <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/burundi-government/4209930.html" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ed9b0e; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;" target="_blank">reported on a government campaign</a> to quell opposition to constitutional revisions that would allow President Pierre Nkurunziza to stay in power beyond 2020, when his current term expires and he hits term limits. “So far dozens of people, about 60 people were arrested in many sides of the country, and this is one of the signs that [the] referendum will not be fair since those campaigning against are arrested, while those campaigning for ‘yes’ are not arrested,” said Vital Nshirimana, head of the Forum for Strengthening the Civil Society. Voting on the changes is expected in May. Burundi has been grappling with unrest ever since Nkurunziza opted to run for a new term in 2015, a move his critics said was unconstitutional. Nina Wilen <a href="https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/21990/the-world-turned-away-from-burundi-but-its-crisis-is-getting-worse" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ed9b0e; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;" target="_blank">provided an update</a> on the crisis last April. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">West Africa</span> <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Niger</em>: Lawmakers in Italy <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-italy-diplomacy-niger-libya/italy-approves-military-mission-in-niger-more-troops-to-north-africa-idUSKBN1F6270" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ed9b0e; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;" target="_blank">approved a plan</a> to deploy 470 soldiers to Niger and send additional soldiers to Libya as part of an ongoing effort to curb migration. The troops will be redeployed from Afghanistan and Iraq. In November, we wrote about how the policies of Italy and other European Union countries were <a href="https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/trend-lines/23709/amid-libya-slave-market-outrage-eu-and-african-leaders-dodge-question-of-blame" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ed9b0e; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;" target="_blank">exposing African migrants to abuses</a> in Libya and elsewhere. Separately, British Prime Minister Theresa May announced she was <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/uk-helicopters-join-french-counterterror-mission-africa-52418234" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ed9b0e; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;" target="_blank">sending three Chinook heavy-lift helicopters</a>to Mali in support of French-led efforts to combat Islamist extremists in the region. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Nigeria</em>: A new video released by Boko Haram purportedly shows some of the girls rounded up in the mass abduction from the town of Chibok that captured the world’s attention in 2014. In the video, one of the girls declares that they have chosen to stay with their captors and “<a href="http://abcnews.go.com/International/boko-haram-releases-video-claiming-show-chibok-girls/story?id=52404798" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ed9b0e; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;" target="_blank">are never coming back</a>.” The girls’ identities were not immediately confirmed. On Wednesday, a suicide bombing at a market in the city of Maiduguri <a href="https://www.breakingnews.ie/world/12-killed-in-double-suicide-bombing-at-maiduguri-823358.html" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ed9b0e; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;" target="_blank">killed 12 people</a> and injured dozens. The following day, security forces said an attack in neighboring Niger <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nigeria-security/suspected-boko-haram-attack-in-niger-kills-at-least-four-soldiers-idUSKBN1F726X" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ed9b0e; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;" target="_blank">killed four soldiers</a>. In Kaduna state, two Americans and two Canadians <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/american-canadian-kidnapped-gunmen-central-nigeria-52409581" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ed9b0e; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;" target="_blank">were kidnapped</a> in a road ambush that left two police officers dead. And farther south, the Niger Delta Avengers <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nigeria-oil/nigerian-militants-threaten-oil-rig-attacks-within-days-idUSKBN1F6155" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ed9b0e; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;" target="_blank">threatened to strike</a> offshore oil facilities. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Top Reads From Around the Web</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><a href="https://www.irinnews.org/special-report/2018/01/18/exclusive-congo-brazzaville-s-hidden-war" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ed9b0e; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;" target="_blank"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Congo-Brazzaville’s Hidden War</em></a>: Taking advantage of three weeks of rare access to the Pool region in Republic of Congo, Philip Kleinfeld comes back with firsthand accounts of the government’s scorched-earth tactics and the humanitarian crisis they’ve created. While government operations including aerial bombardments were ostensibly targeting “Ninja” rebels, some Pool residents said there were none in the area. “There were no Ninjas,” said bombing survivor Isma Nkodia, recalling one raid. “Just civilians.” <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/01/22/using-comedy-to-strengthen-nigerias-democracy" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ed9b0e; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;" target="_blank"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Using Comedy to Strengthen Democracy</em></a>: Writing for The New Yorker, Adrian Chen offers a behind-the-scenes account of the creation of The Other News, which is often described as a Nigerian version of The Daily Show. The piece also addresses some of the thornier questions raised by a project involving two white foreigners educating Nigerians in political satire, an art form they’re hardly strangers to. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Coming up on WPR: Reports on the recent coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea and prospects for political reform in Ethiopia. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387513634772047821.post-59190519551939516322018-01-22T00:51:00.001-08:002018-01-22T00:51:34.547-08:00Egypt raises 'extreme concern' about Nile dam with Ethiopia | News24<div class="article_header" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="article_details" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><h1 class="bold" style="border: 0px; 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<div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: 30px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; width: 30px;"><a class="item_img" href="https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/the-fall-of-zuma-20180120" id="cXLinkIdjcpz1z8zscquoaww" style="border: 0px; color: #0e2e5e; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_top"><img alt="" height="37.03703703703704" src="https://content-thumbnail.cxpublic.com/content/dominantthumbnail/5e865aa471dbfe90ed55c94bdff64c184546adcb.jpg?5a6513db" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; left: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="30" /></a></div><a class="item_img" href="https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/the-fall-of-zuma-20180120" id="cXLinkIdjcpz1z8zscquoaww" style="border: 0px; color: #0e2e5e; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_top"> </a></div><br /><br />
<div class="item_content_right" style="border: 0px; display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: top; width: 235px;"><a class="title" href="https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/the-fall-of-zuma-20180120" id="cXLinkIdjcpz1z8zdcss7092" style="border: 0px; color: #0e2e5e; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_top">The fall of Zuma</a></div></div><div class="item" style="background: none; border-bottom-color: rgb(225, 225, 225); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 10px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="item_content_left" style="border: 0px; display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 5px 0px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: top; width: 30px;"><a class="item_img" href="https://www.news24.com/Columnists/GuestColumn/is-the-net-about-to-close-on-zuma-and-his-gupta-patronage-network-20180122" id="cXLinkIdjcpz1z8zrea7bpcp" style="border: 0px; color: #0e2e5e; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_top"></a><br /><br />
<div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: 30px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; width: 30px;"><a class="item_img" href="https://www.news24.com/Columnists/GuestColumn/is-the-net-about-to-close-on-zuma-and-his-gupta-patronage-network-20180122" id="cXLinkIdjcpz1z8zrea7bpcp" style="border: 0px; color: #0e2e5e; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_top"><img alt="" height="37.03703703703704" src="https://content-thumbnail.cxpublic.com/content/dominantthumbnail/560b274c4f785f26e71ee3227923e38993626f77.jpg?5a65a19b" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; left: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="30" /></a></div><a class="item_img" href="https://www.news24.com/Columnists/GuestColumn/is-the-net-about-to-close-on-zuma-and-his-gupta-patronage-network-20180122" id="cXLinkIdjcpz1z8zrea7bpcp" style="border: 0px; color: #0e2e5e; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_top"> </a></div><br /><br />
<div class="item_content_right" style="border: 0px; display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: top; width: 235px;"><a class="title" href="https://www.news24.com/Columnists/GuestColumn/is-the-net-about-to-close-on-zuma-and-his-gupta-patronage-network-20180122" id="cXLinkIdjcpz1z8z2zsrn7bq" style="border: 0px; color: #0e2e5e; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_top">Is the net about to close on Zuma and his Gupta patronage network?</a></div></div></div></div></div><div id="relatedlinks_box" style="background: url("../images/generic_sprite.png") -15px 14px repeat-y; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 10px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="left" style="border: 0px; float: left; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><h5 class="bold" id="Relatedheader" style="border: 0px; color: #595959; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 4px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Related Links</h5><a class="relatedTag" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" id="taglink" style="border: 0px; color: #072b5b; font-family: inherit; font-size: 20px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></a></div><div class="right" style="border: 0px; float: right; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div class="clr" style="border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><ul style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><li class="bold" style="background: url("../images/li_dot_med.png") 0px 6px no-repeat scroll; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 8px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a data-track="Articles,egypt-raises-extreme-concern-about-nile-dam-with-ethiopia-20180118-2,RelatedLinks-egypt-raises-extreme-concern-about-nile-dam-with-ethiopia-20180118" href="https://www.news24.com/Africa/News/egypt-raises-extreme-concern-about-nile-dam-with-ethiopia-20180118" style="border: 0px; color: #0e2e5e; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Egypt raises 'extreme concern' about Nile dam with Ethiopia</a></li>
<li class="bold" style="background: url("../images/li_dot_med.png") 0px 6px no-repeat scroll; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 8px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a data-track="Articles,egypt-raises-extreme-concern-about-nile-dam-with-ethiopia-20180118-2,RelatedLinks-ethiopian-pm-arrives-in-egypt-for-talks-on-sharing-nile-20180117" href="https://www.news24.com/Africa/News/ethiopian-pm-arrives-in-egypt-for-talks-on-sharing-nile-20180117" style="border: 0px; color: #0e2e5e; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Ethiopian PM arrives in Egypt for talks on sharing Nile</a></li>
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<article class="clr_left" id="article-body" style="background-color: white; clear: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Cairo - Egypt's president on Thursday expressed his "extreme concern" to Ethiopia's visiting prime minister over the lack of progress in talks on the impact of a massive upstream dam that Egypt fears could cut into its vital share of the Nile.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi has warned that Egypt's share of the Nile, which provides nearly all its freshwater, is a red line. But he has also sought to reassure Ethiopia and Sudan that Egypt has no intention of going to war.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sisi was grim-faced during most of a news conference he jointly addressed with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn after the two held talks in Cairo.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">El-Sissi said he appreciated Ethiopia's repeated assurances that the dam, which is about 60 percent complete, would not have a negative impact on Egypt, but he said studies must still be completed and that all sides should abide by their findings.</div><div class="ad_container_24" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="24ad600x50" id="ad-600x50-1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="noad" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; vertical-align: baseline;"></div></div></div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">He said Ethiopia has rejected Egypt's proposal to bring in World Bank experts as neutral arbitrators on the dispute over the likely impact of the dam on Egypt's share of the Nile.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Extreme concern </strong></div></article>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387513634772047821.post-19237322810899233982018-01-22T00:41:00.001-08:002018-01-22T00:41:11.156-08:00Ethiopia refuses World Bank arbitration over Nile River dam | Fox News<br /><br />
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<div class="article-content-wrap sticky-columns" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; width: 1264px;"><div class="article-content" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 36px 0px 16px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: calc(100% - 368px);"><div class="article-body" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 88px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 28px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="dateline" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – </span>Ethiopia's leader has rejected arbitration by the World Bank on a disagreement with Egypt over the hydroelectric dam that Ethiopia is building on the Nile River.</div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 28px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn on Saturday refused the suggestion made by Egypt in late December that the World Bank should be brought in to resolve the dispute with Ethiopia over the construction of the dam on the Nile River that Egypt says threatens its water security. Sudan is also part of the negotiations because the Nile flows through it on the way to Egypt.</div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 28px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"Ethiopia will not accept Egypt's request to include the World Bank in the tripartite technical committee's talks on the dam," Desalegn told the state run Ethiopian News Agency after visiting Egypt on Friday where he met with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. "There is an opportunity for the three countries to resolve possible disputes by themselves."</div><div class="ad gpt ad-h-1" data-ad-pos="inread" data-ad-size="1x1" data-ad-slot-rendered="1" data-google-query-id="CKOM2IqW69gCFVBA4Aod8Q8BTA" data-rendered-size="1x1" id="ad-inread-1x1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div id="google_ads_iframe_/4145/fnc/world_1__container__" style="border: 0pt none; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="1" id="google_ads_iframe_/4145/fnc/world_1" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="google_ads_iframe_/4145/fnc/world_1" scrolling="no" style="border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: 1px !important; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: bottom; width: 1px !important;" title="3rd party ad content" width="1"></iframe></div></div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 28px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Egypt's suggestion came amid a 10-month impasse over technical negotiations for the dam, which will be Africa's biggest hydro-electric plant. Egyptian officials have called the World Bank "neutral and decisive" and said the organization could facilitate negotiations "devoid of political interpretation and manipulation."</div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 28px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">But the Ethiopian leader said that "seeking professional support is one thing; transferring it to an institution is another thing. So we told them (Egypt) that this is not acceptable with our side." Desalegn said that Egyptians are not getting accurate information about the source of Nile waters and how Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance Dam will operate.</div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 28px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The $5 billion dam is about 63 percent complete. When finished it will generate about 6,400 megawatts, more than doubling Ethiopia's current production of 4,000 megawatts. The dam will also help to spare Ethiopia from drought and famine.</div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 28px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ethiopia maintains that the dam's construction will not reduce Egypt's share of the river's water. It insists the dam is needed for development, pointing out that 60 million of its citizens don't have access to electricity.</div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 28px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">But Egypt fears that if the reservoir behind the dam is filled quickly and if too much of the Nile waters are retained each year, the reduction of the river's flow would have negative effects on Egypt's agriculture.</div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 28px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Desalegn tried to reassure Egyptian during his visit to the country. "The people of Ethiopia did not nor will ever subject Egyptians to danger," said Desalegn, in Cairo Saturday on his first visit to Egypt as prime minister. "We will not hurt your country in any way and will work closely together to secure the life of the people of the Nile basin and take them out of the cycle of poverty."</div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 28px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">While Ethiopia has said the dam is a "matter of life or death" for its people, Egypt has said water is a "matter of life or death" for its people.</div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387513634772047821.post-24925341536809977332018-01-16T01:02:00.001-08:002018-01-16T01:02:28.035-08:00Gulf tension: Are Egypt and Sudan about to go to war? | Middle East Eye<div class="field field-name-title-and-topic-hashtag field-type-ds field-label-hidden" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 700; margin-bottom: 12px;"><div class="field-items" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="field-item even" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><h1 style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 28px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 5px;">Gulf tension: Are Egypt and Sudan about to go to war?</h1><span class="topic-hashtag" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="http://www.middleeasteye.net/topics/sudan" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; text-decoration-line: none;">#Sudan</a></span></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body-summary field-type-ds field-label-hidden" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 20px;"><div class="field-items" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="field-item even" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box;">Cairo and Khartoum have allied themselves with opposing power blocs, building on inherent tension between the neighbouring countries</div></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-main-image field-type-image field-label-hidden" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.9em; margin-bottom: 15px;"><img height="413" src="http://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/main_image_article_page/public/main-images/Sudans%20President%20Omar%20al-Bashir%20addresses%20supporters%20during%20his%20visit%20to%20the%20war-torn%20Darfur%20region%2C%20in%20Bilal%2C%20Darfur%2C%20Sudan%20September%2022%2C%202017.%20%20reuters.JPG" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" typeof="foaf:Image" width="620" /></div><div class="field field-name-field-main-image-caption field-type-text-long field-label-hidden" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.9em; margin-bottom: 15px;">Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir visits Bilal in the war-torn Darfur region on 22 September 2017 (Reuters)</div><div class="group-published-by field-group-div" id="node-article-news-full-group-published-by" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-color: initial; border-left-color: rgb(0, 118, 175); border-right-color: rgb(0, 118, 175); border-style: solid solid none; border-top-color: rgb(0, 118, 175); border-width: 2px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-top: 15px; position: relative; width: 616.656px;"><div class="field field-name-ds-user-picture field-type-ds field-label-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; margin-bottom: 30px; margin-right: 15px;"><div class="field-items" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="field-item even" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="http://www.middleeasteye.net/users/mohammed-amin" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="Mohammed Amin's picture" height="34" src="http://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/article_author/public/pictures/picture-13234-1509386171.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" title="Mohammed Amin's picture" typeof="foaf:Image" width="34" /></a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-author-job-title field-type-ds field-label-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="field-items" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="field-item even" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="http://www.middleeasteye.net/users/mohammed-amin" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; text-decoration-line: none;">Mohammed Amin</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-post-date field-type-ds field-label-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;"><div class="field-items" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="field-item even" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Saturday 13 January 2018 09:46 UTC</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-last-update field-type-ds field-label-above" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="field-label" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; float: left; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Last update: </div><div class="field-items" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; margin: 0px;">Monday 15 January 2018 12:16 UTC</div></div><div class="field field-name-social-links field-type-ds field-label-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 3rem 0px 10px !important; padding: 0px; position: static !important; right: 0px; top: 10px; width: 616.656px;"><div class="field-items" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="field-item even" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="sharethis-wrapper" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="st_twitter_hcount" displaytext="twitter" st_processed="yes" st_title="Gulf tension: Are Egypt and Sudan about to go to war?" st_url="http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/gulf-tension-are-egypt-and-sudan-about-go-war-turkey-qatar-dam-ethiopia-muslim-brotherhood-903070654" st_username="MiddleEastEyeFR" st_via="MiddleEastEye" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left;"><span class="stButton" style="box-sizing: border-box; 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border-color: rgb(0, 118, 175); border-style: solid; border-width: 2px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; min-height: 55px; overflow: hidden; padding: 15px 0px; position: relative; width: 616.656px;"><div class="field field-name-field-topics field-type-entityreference field-label-inline inline" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="field-label" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px;">Topics: </div><div class="field-items" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline;"><div class="field-item even" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline;"><div class="textformatter-list" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline;"><a class="taxonomy-term taxonomy-term-19622 entityreference" href="http://www.middleeasteye.net/topics/sudan" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">Sudan</a></div></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline inline" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="field-label" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px;">Tags: </div><div class="field-items" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline;"><div class="field-item even" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline;"><div class="textformatter-list" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline;"><a href="http://www.middleeasteye.net/tags/gerd" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">GERD</a>, <a href="http://www.middleeasteye.net/tags/muslim-brotherhood" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">Muslim Brotherhood</a>, <a href="http://www.middleeasteye.net/tags/gulf-cooperation-council" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">Gulf Cooperation Council</a>, <a href="http://www.middleeasteye.net/tags/red-sea" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">Red Sea</a></div></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-comment-count field-type-ds field-label-hidden" style="background: url("/sites/all/themes/mee/images/comment-count.png") 0px 3px no-repeat; 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padding: 15px 0px; width: 616.656px;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">KHARTOUM - </strong>Tension between Egypt and Sudan has increased this week amid military build-ups on their borders and fears that the crisis in the Gulf has now spread to eastern Africa.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box;">Turkish media reported on 4 January that Egyptian forces have arrived in Eritrea, which borders eastern Sudan, with <a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180104-uae-backed-egyptian-forces-arrive-in-eritrea/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">backing from the UAE</a> and opposition groups from the region.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">That same day, Sudan <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sudan-egypt/sudan-recalls-its-ambassador-from-egypt-amid-tensions-idUSKBN1ET29P" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">recalled its ambassador</a> from Cairo, then two days later declared a state of emergency in Kassala state, which neighbours Eritrea, and <a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180108-sudan-political-forces-support-decision-to-close-border-with-eritrea/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">shut the border</a> without explanation. Eyewitnesses in Kassala have since said that large numbers of troops have passed through, heading towards the border area.</div><blockquote style="background: rgb(229, 232, 243); border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; float: right; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 15px 15px; max-width: 315px; padding: 14px;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 17.5px; line-height: 1.25;">During the past year Sudan and Egypt, which have a long-standing emnity, have increasingly allied themselves with opposing Middle Eastern power blocs</div></blockquote><div style="box-sizing: border-box;">Ahmed Abu Zeid, Egyptian foreign ministry spokesman, said Cairo was "comprehensively assessing the situation with a view to making the appropriate response".</div></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">The increase in tension comes just weeks after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Khartoum, the first visit by a Turkish leader since the Ottoman Empire withdrew from Sudan in 1885. Sudan and Turkey signed 13 agreements during the December visit, including military accords.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">Cairo didn't officially comment on Erdogan’s visit, but pro-government media have accused it as being a conspiracy against Egyptian national security. Khartoum in turn has denied the Egyptian accusations and says that Cairo has no right to interfere in Sudanese issues.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">During the past year Sudan and Egypt, which have a long-standing emnity, have increasingly allied themselves with opposing Middle Eastern power blocs. Egypt has the backing of Saudi Arabia and UAE, the key advocates of a months-long blockade against Qatar. Sudan meanwhile has allied itself with Qatar and Turkey, which has a military base in the Gulf kingdom.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">This is not the first time the two countries have fallen out.</div><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 0px;">Reason 1: Disputed borders</h3><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">Aside from Eritrea, two other territorial disputes have strained Sudanese-Egyptian relations during the past half century.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">The province of Darfur, in western Sudan, has been riddled by war for the past two decades, with up to 300,000 dead and at least 2.7 million displaced.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">In May last year, <a href="http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/sudan-bans-imports-egypt-latest-blow-relations-1052344511" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">President Omar al-Bashir</a> said: "The Sudanese army has captured several Egyptian armoured vehicles in recent fighting in Darfur.” He has also <a href="http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/sudans-presidents-ex-foes-likes-blame-games-despite-similar-failures-1678129559" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">previously accused</a>Egyptian intelligence services of supporting opposition figures fighting his troops in the conflict zones of Blue Nile and South Kordofan.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;"></div><div class="media media-element-container media-content_full_width" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;"><img alt="" class="media-element file-content-full-width" height="413" src="http://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/wysiwyg_large/public/images/Member%20of%20the%20Sudan%20Liberation%20Army%20%28Abdul%20Wahid%20faction%29%20in%20North%20Darfur%20in%20Mat%202012%20%28UNAMID%29.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" typeof="foaf:Image" width="620" /><small class="field field-name-field-file-caption field-type-text field-label-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 11.9px; margin: 0px; padding: 10px 0px 15px;">Member of the Sudan Liberation Army (Abdul Wahid faction) in North Darfur in May 2012 (UNAMID)</small></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">However, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi dismissed the accusations and said Cairo was not playing a role in Darfur. Rebel leaders have also rejected Bashir's comments.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">Then there is the Halaib Triangle to the north of Sudan, run in effect by Egypt for the past two decades and which Cairo says is Egyptian territory. The region, rich in minerals and oil, has been disputed by Egypt and Sudan since the latter became independent in 1956.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">Cairo has increased its military presence in the area since 1996, despite Khartoum's repeated complaints to the <a href="http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/sudan-turns-un-over-territory-dispute-egypt-156152582" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">UN Security Council</a> and calls for the dispute to be solved through arbitration.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">In January 2016, Sudan put its <a href="http://aa.com.tr/en/politics/ongoing-tension-between-egypt-sudan/501366" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">forces on standby</a> on the border with Egypt, the first time it has done so in 60 years, saying that Egypt's military was "provoking" the Sudanese army in the disputed area.</div><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 0px;">Reason 2: Deals with Turkey</h3><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">Khartoum has been diplomatically and economically impoverished during the past decade. The country is still subject to international sanctions as a result of the conflict in Darfur, while Bashir is still wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes of genocide. South Sudan took three-quarters of the country's oil revenue when it became independent in 2011.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">Small wonder then that Sudan has sought international alliances where it can. During his visit, <a href="http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/erdogan-signs-military-economic-accords-first-visit-sudan-84193216" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Erdogan</a> said that the two countries aimed to boost two-way trade from $500mn a year to $1bn in an initial stage and then to $10bn.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;"></div><div class="media media-element-container media-content_full_width" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;"><img alt="" class="media-element file-content-full-width" height="423" src="http://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/wysiwyg_large/public/main-images/erdogan%3Abashir-12%3A24%3A17-afp.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" typeof="foaf:Image" width="620" /><small class="field field-name-field-file-caption field-type-text field-label-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 11.9px; margin: 0px; padding: 10px 0px 15px;">Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) is embraced by President of Sudan Omar al-Bashir during an official welcoming ceremony at Khartoum international airport on 24 December (AFP)</small></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">Turkey, meanwhile, wants to boost its influence in the region, not least near international trade routes that pass through the Suez Canal to the north and the Gulf to the east.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;"><a href="http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/turkey-scramble-africa-1794375465" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Ankara has been active</a> militarily in Somalia since 2009, when it joined the multinational counter-piracy task force off the Somali coast.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">In September 2017, Turkey opened its largest overseas military base in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. It reportedly cost $50mn and will train 10,000 Somali troops, according to Turkish and Somali officials.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">Ahmet Kavas, a former Turkish ambassador to the republic of Chad and an adviser to the prime minister on African affairs, <a href="http://http//www.middleeasteye.net/news/turkey-scramble-africa-1794375465" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">told Middle East Eye</a> that Turkey's presence in Africa made more sense than that of any other country.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">"If you were to think of any one country that should be present in Africa, that country would be Turkey," said Kavas. "The anomaly was the 20th century, when we were largely absent from the continent and the western Europeans stepped in."</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;"></div><div class="media media-element-container media-content_full_width" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;"><img alt="" class="media-element file-content-full-width" height="712" src="http://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/wysiwyg_large/public/images/Egypt-sudan-tensions.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" typeof="foaf:Image" width="620" /><small class="field field-name-field-file-caption field-type-text field-label-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 11.9px; margin: 0px; padding: 10px 0px 15px;"></small></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">Two of the deals signed during Erdogan's visit drew particular drew sharp attention from Cairo.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">The first leases Sudan's Red Sea island of Suakin to Turkey for 99 years. Over the centuries the island has been a commercial crossroads between Africa, Europe and the Gulf, as well as a gateway heading to the Arabian peninsula for Hajj. Historically, it is home to several ancient sites, dating back to when the Ottoman Empire colonised Sudan in the 18th century.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">Turkey has said that parts of the island will be restored by the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency and the ministry of culture and tourism.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">But Asma Al-Hussieni, editor in chief of the Egyptian daily state newspaper Al-Ahram Egyptian, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjLbzc4U-hY" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">said in early January</a> that Khartoum and Turkey have secretly agreed to establish a military base on the island, threatening the shipping lanes of the Red Sea.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">The second deal allows Turkey to have an enhanced presence in Sudan's territorial waters across police, security, military and defence ministries, ostensibly to protect Sudanese naval ships as well as to fight terrorism.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">Sudanese security expert and retired general Alabas Alamin said that Turkey's increased presence in the Red Sea is a "breakthrough for Turkish ambitions, which worries the Arab countries aligned with Saudi Arabia, especially Egypt".</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">There have been complaints about the deals from within Sudan. Abdallah Musa is a leading member of the Beja congress party, which represented a former rebel movement in eastern Sudan that signed a peace deal with the government in 2006.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;"></div><div class="media media-element-container media-content_full_width" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;"><img alt="" class="media-element file-content-full-width" height="412" src="http://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/wysiwyg_large/public/images/The%20el-Geyf%20mosque%20on%20the%20island%20of%20Suakin%2C%20Sudan%28Bertramz%20wiki%20commons%29.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" typeof="foaf:Image" width="620" /><small class="field field-name-field-file-caption field-type-text field-label-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 11.9px; margin: 0px; padding: 10px 0px 15px;">Reports suggest Khartoum and Turkey have secretly agreed to establish a military base on the island of Suakin (Bertramz wiki commons)</small></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">He said the move is "a violation of the Sudanese sovereignty that will put Sudan in a critical situation amid regional conflicts" and that Egypt and Gulf states could be blackmailed if the waters were closed, disrupting oil routes to international markets.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">However, the Turkish ambassador to Sudan, Irfan Neziroglu, denied Turkey would become involved in international affairs on Sudanese territories. "Turkey and Sudan have nothing to hide over the Red Sea or Suakin island," he told MEE. "What we announced openly is what will happen in the Red Sea."</div><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 0px;">Reason 3: Gulf alliances</h3><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">The Gulf crisis which began in summer 2016 saw the Middle East divided between a power bloc opposed to Qatar which included Saudi, Bahrain, UAE and Egypt, and supporters of Doha, which include Turkey and Iran.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">Emad Hussien, <a href="https://www.shorouknews.com/columns/view.aspx?cdate=05012018&id=ceff20f8-1ad9-4d09-a450-57740ff73b94" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">editor in chief of Sudan's Alshorooq newspaper,</a> said: "Khartoum is clearly pragmatic and opportunistic as it jumps from one camp to another without any strategic goals other than to break the isolation of the regime."</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">Alhaj Warag, a political analyst and editor-in-chief of Turkey's Hurriyat online, said on Egyptian TV that Turkish ambitions have pushed Khartoum to build its current partnership with Ankara - but that this could put Sudan in a difficult position.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XjLbzc4U-hY" style="box-sizing: border-box;" width="560"></iframe></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">Sudan, Warag observed, had shifted from alliances with Iran to the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen to Turkey and Qatar. "Playing the regional axis to draw some benefits will end up having a serious effect on Sudan."</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">Musa warned that Sudan risked becoming the next Yemen. There, three years of war between sides backed by rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran have ripped the country asunder.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">"To solve its economic crisis, Khartoum is putting the entire country in the middle of the regional polarisation," Musa said, "but that will lead to serious consequences."</div><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 0px;">Reason 4: Africa's biggest dam</h3><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">Egypt is deeply worried about the impact on its water supply of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, now being built near the border between Ethiopia and Sudan and set to be the largest on the continent.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">Addis Ababa hopes the $5bn project will lift a large segment of its more than 80 million people out of poverty as well as allow it to sell on the energy produced and boost the economy.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;"></div><div class="media media-element-container media-content_full_width" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;"><img alt="" class="media-element file-content-full-width" height="414" src="http://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/wysiwyg_large/public/main-images/Workers%20build%20the%20Grand%20Renaissance%20Dam%20near%20the%20Sudanese-Ethiopian%20border%20in%20March%202015%20%28AFP%29._0.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" typeof="foaf:Image" width="620" /><small class="field field-name-field-file-caption field-type-text field-label-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 11.9px; margin: 0px; padding: 10px 0px 15px;">Workers build the Grand Renaissance Dam near the Sudanese-Ethiopian border in March 2015 (AFP)</small></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">But in Egypt, where around 90 percent of the population live on or near the banks of the Nile, there are fears that there will be less water for irrigating crops. Cairo is also concerned that Sudan, through which the Nile flows, will side with Ethiopia in talks over the dam.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">In December, <a href="https://addisfortune.net/articles/egypt-proposes-to-exclude-sudan-from-dam-talks/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Ethiopian media reported</a> that Egypt wanted to exclude Sudan from the talks and invite the World Bank to arbitrate.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">The Egyptian foreign ministry has denied the suggestion, stressing that Sudan is part of the talks that can't be excluded.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">But a Sudanese diplomat, who asked not to be identified because he is not authorised to the talk to the media, told MEE the report was correct, adding: "The Egyptian stance regarding the dam is regrettable. Such moves from Egypt are unacceptable as they will only lead to more complications during the talks over the dam rather than solving the disputes."</div><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 0px;">Reason 5: The Muslim Brotherhood</h3><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi came to power after he drove his predecessor, Mohamed Morsi, from office in July 2013. Morsi was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is now banned in Egypt and whose members have been subject to unfair trials and torture, according to <a href="https://www.hrw.org/report/2017/09/05/we-do-unreasonable-things-here/torture-and-national-security-al-sisis-egypt" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">human rights groups</a>.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;"></div><div class="media media-element-container media-content_full_width" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;"><img alt="" class="media-element file-content-full-width" height="448" src="http://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/wysiwyg_large/public/images/Morsi.AFP__0.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" typeof="foaf:Image" width="620" /><small class="field field-name-field-file-caption field-type-text field-label-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 11.9px; margin: 0px; padding: 10px 0px 15px;">Mohamed Morsi, former Egyptian president and member of the Muslim Brotherhood, is currently in prison (AFP)</small></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">In contrast, Sudan's Bashir rose to power in 1989 amid a military coup backed by the brotherhood and its leader, Hassan Alturabi, whom the current president later ousted when the organisation split in 1999.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">Egyptian pro-government media have repeatedly accused Sudan of harbouring Egyptian members of the brotherhood, an accusation which has been denied by the Sudanese authorities.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">Under the title of "Al-Bashir and the political suicide" Emad Adib, <a href="https://www.elwatannews.com/news/details/2886182" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">a columnist for Al-Watan, daily Egyptian newspaper</a> wrote that "Sudan is conspiring with Turkey and Qatar against Egypt".</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">Turkey has been <a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20170217-turkeys-erdogan-muslim-brotherhood-is-ideological-not-terrorist-organisation/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6778b9; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">supportive of the brotherhood</a>: in February 2017, Erdogan said he did not consider it "an armed group, but is in actual fact an ideological organisation" and that if they had been associated with terrorism then they would have been driven from Turkey.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">Hassan Ali, a political science professor at Alazhari University, believes the tension over the brotherhood is a sign of the ideological divide between Khartoum's Islamist government and the leadership in Egypt, which is increasingly having to deal with militant attacks in Sinai.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">"These ideological differences are the main cause of tension between the two sides. The remaining issues including Halaib, the Ethiopian dam, and others are pending issues that been used as cards by the two sides to put pressure on each other."</div><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 0px;">So will there be war?</h3><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">Yet despite the disagreements over dams and brotherhoods, islands and power blocs, experts believe it is in neither country's interest to engage in war.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">Abdul Moniem Abu Idriss, a Sudanese political analyst, believes that the current tension is unlikely to descend from diplomatic and media spats into open military conflict.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">Both countries, he said, are suffering deep economic crises, which will curtail their ability to fight or engage in escalation.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">"Since 2011, these two neighbours have been suffering economic deterioration. Sudan has lost has the majority of its oil revenues since the separation of South Sudan in that year.</div><blockquote style="background: rgb(229, 232, 243); border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; float: right; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 15px 15px; max-width: 315px; padding: 14px;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 17.5px; line-height: 1.25; margin-bottom: 10px;">The two dictatorships in these two countries actually want to draw the attention of the people away from their domestic crises</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 17.5px; line-height: 1.25;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">- Alhaj Hamad, Sudanese Centre for Social and Human Development</em></div></blockquote><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">"Meanwhile Egypt's tourism, which is a vital sector for the Egyptian economy, has been hit by the continuous terror attacks."</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">Egypt also goes to the polls in March – and a wave of nationalist fervour, sparked by relations with Sudan, might strengthen the hand of Sisi with his previous background as defence minister, commander-in-chief of the armed forces and director of military intelligence.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">Idriss also believes that each side is "attempting to create an imaginary enemy to draw the attention of the two nations from their realistic and daily life needs that they failed to provide".</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">"Even the Egyptian military presence in Sudan, especially in Halaib, is old and dates back to 1996, so I don't think that there is something new in this regard," he added.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">And despite Turkey's pledges to back Khartoum in any Egyptian attack on the Red Sea coast, both sides are too fatigued for war.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">Alhaj Hamad, director of the Sudanese Centre for Social and Human Development, said: "The two dictatorships in these two countries actually want to draw the attention of the people away from their domestic crises."</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box;">He said that neither side could afford even the pretence of engaging in open war. "I don't think that they will go further. This current situation is best called the balance of weaknesses."</div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387513634772047821.post-53200637604858688052018-01-16T00:59:00.001-08:002018-01-16T00:59:16.431-08:00Sudan threatens further escalatory actions against Egypt: ambassador - Sudan Tribune<div class="cartouche" style="background-color: white; color: #2b2b2b; font-size: 14px;"><div class="surlignable"><h1 class="crayon article-titre-64483 " id="titreArticle" style="color: #a75314; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 22px;"></h1></div></div><div class="ui-tabs ui-widget ui-widget-content ui-corner-all" id="tabs" style="background: url("images/ui-bg_flat_75_ffffff_40x100.png") 50% 50% repeat-x rgb(255, 255, 255); border-radius: 4px; border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em; padding: 0.2em; position: relative; zoom: 1;"><ul class="ui-tabs-nav ui-helper-reset ui-helper-clearfix ui-widget-header ui-corner-all" style="background: url("images/ui-bg_highlight-soft_75_cccccc_1x100.png") 50% 50% repeat-x rgb(204, 204, 204); border-radius: 4px; border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); font-size: 15.4px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.3; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.2em 0px;"><li class="ui-state-default ui-corner-top ui-tabs-selected ui-state-active" style="background: url("images/ui-bg_glass_65_ffffff_1x400.png") 50% 50% repeat-x rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom: 0px !important; border-image: initial; border-left: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); border-right: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); border-top-left-radius: 4px; border-top-right-radius: 4px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); color: #212121; float: left; font-weight: normal; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0.2em 0px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1px; position: relative; top: 1px; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article64483#tabs-1" style="color: #212121; cursor: text; float: left; padding: 0.5em 1em; text-decoration-line: none;">Article</a></li>
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<dl class="spip_document_19872 spip_documents spip_documents_right" style="float: right; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 15px; text-align: center;"><dt><img alt="JPEG - 14.8 kb" src="http://www.sudantribune.com/local/cache-vignettes/L411xH270/abdalmahmood_abdalhaleem-d104d.jpg?1515100261" height="270" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px;" width="411" /></dt>
<dt class="crayon document-titre-19872 spip_doc_titre" style="font-size: 0.9em; font-weight: bold; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; width: 350px;"><strong>Ambassador Abdel-Mahmood Abdel Halim</strong></dt>
</dl>On 4 January Sudan summoned its ambassador to Egypt for consultation, hours after the head of the Sudanese Border Technical Committee, Abdallah Al-Sadiq, accused Egypt of trying to drag Sudan into a direct military confrontation.<br /><br />
Speaking to journalists on Friday night, Abdel-Halim said his summoning was a step in a series of moves that could include “withdrawing of ambassador or expulsion of other country’s ambassador or breaking off the relationship and declaring war”.<br /><br />
He pointed out that Sudan has taken the first step in the diplomatic battle with Egypt and didn’t yet resort to other options.<br /><br />
However, Abdel-Halim did not explain the reasons for the Sudanese escalation towards Egypt, but only expressed hope the two countries could overcome the current challenges.<br /><br />
“In every challenge there lies opportunity and we want to take advantage of this opportunity to put our relationship with Egypt on the right path through resolving the outstanding issues which prompted my summoning,” he said<br /><br />
The Sudanese diplomat warned that his country could take further escalatory moves, saying important developments will occur in the next few days in this regard.<br /><br />
New tensions have erupted between Sudan and Egypt following Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Khartoum in late December.<br /><br />
Last week, Sudan closed its border with Eritrea after the deployment of thousands of troops from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fighters to Kassala State.<br /><br />
On Thursday, Sudan admitted that the deployment of troops along the Eritrean border came as result of military threats from Eritrea and Egypt against the country.<br /><br />
<strong>CALL FOR MILITARY MOBILIZATION</strong><br /><br />
Meanwhile, the governor of Khartoum State and head of the National Congress Party (NCP) in the capital has underscored readiness of the army, security, and the RSF to counter any kind of aggression against the country.<br /><br />
Hussein, who spoke before the meeting of the NCP’s Shura Council, called on the members of the ruling party to get ready “to wear the Khaki (army uniform) and go to the battlefield in defence of Sudan’s dignity and the dignity of its people”.<br /><br />
However, Hussein didn’t elaborate on the nature of the military aggression.<br /><br />
He said the summoning of Sudan’s ambassador to Egypt was meant to underline Sudan’s keenness to maintain the fraternal relations between the two countries on the bases of mutual respect.<br /><br />
Hussein also demanded to stop the hostile Egyptian media campaign against Sudan led by some who hold hidden agenda to hurt bilateral relations.</div></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0