Politics
Ethiopia and Egypt tone down the rhetoric regarding Nile Dam development
(Reuters) – Ethiopia and Egypt cooled talk of war on Tuesday and agreed to more dialogue to resolve a row over a giant dam that Ethiopia is building on the Nile, on which Egyptians depend on for almost all their water.
Africa’s second and third most populous nations have traded barbs in past weeks about Ethiopia’s new hydroelectric project, which Egypt fears will reduce a water supply vital for its 84 million people, who mostly live in the Nile valley and delta.
Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi said on June 10 he did not want war, but would keep “all options open”, prompting Ethiopia to say it was ready to defend its US$4.7 billion Great Renaissance Dam, which lies near the border with Sudan.
Ethiopia summoned the Egyptian ambassador this month after politicians in Cairo were shown on television suggesting they supported military action.
“Some pronouncements were made in the heat of the moment because of emotions. They are behind us,” Mohamed Kamel Amr, Egypt’s foreign minister, told a joint news conference with his Ethiopian counterpart Tedros Adhanom in Ethiopia’s capital.
An Ethiopian diplomat said another round of talks would be held between ministers and experts in a few weeks.
The two ministers also agreed that further studies would be carried out on the impact of the dam after Egypt said it was dissatisfied with an earlier technical report and said it wanted more details before work continued.
