Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Ethiopia, Egypt tone down talk of war over Nile dam

Reuters: 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 $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 Ethiopian rebels and 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....

Blue Nile meeting the White Nile below Khartoum, shot by NASA

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