The ongoing spat between Egypt and Ethiopia centred around the Nile River can be linked to the Zionist projects on the continent. Egypt, a downstream Nile Basin country that relies on the Nile for 90 percent of its fresh water, is concerned that the construction of the “Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), might affect its 55.5-billion-cubic-meter annual share of the river water.
Ethiopia started building the dam in 2011, which is expected to produce more than 6,000 megawatts of electricity and become the largest hydropower dam in Africa upon completion.
Egypt said it has endorsed a Sudanese proposal to internationalize arbitration in a years-long dispute with Ethiopia over a massive dam Addis Ababa is building on the Blue Nile.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukry said Cairo backs the formation of an “international quartet” including the US, the European Union, and the UN, along with the African Union to facilitate reaching a deal on the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopia Renaissance Dam.
The dispute centres on how much water Ethiopia will release downstream if a multi-year drought occurs and how the three countries would settle any future disputes. Egypt and Sudan also call for a legally binding agreement on the dam’s filling and operation, while Ethiopia insists on guidelines.
Sudan has announced its proposal earlier this year after AU-led talks failed to achieve progress. Since then, Khartoum has become vocal against Ethiopia’s plans to start the second filling during the next rainy season.
Prime Minister Abddalla Hamdok said earlier this month that the dam threatens at least 20 million Sudanese, roughly half the country’s population.
Sudan wants Ethiopia to coordinate and share data on dam’s operation to avoid flooding and protect its own power-generating dams on the Blue Nile, the main tributary of the Nile River. The Blue Nile meets with the White Nile in central Sudan from where the Nile winds northward through Egypt and flows into the Mediterranean Sea.
There was no comment from Ethiopia that had left a US-led attempt to mediate the dispute, alleging bias. The administration of former President Donald Trump last year sanctioned Ethiopia over the dam’s first filling before reaching a deal with Egypt and Sudan.
President Joe Biden’s administration said it has de-linked the sanctions from the dam dispute.
Addis Ababa rejects Cairo’s offers, moves on with construction of massive dam that could limit water supply; pro-Sissi pundits call for invasion similar to 1973 war with Israel.
There are allegations that Israel has supplied Ethiopia with air defence systems to protect the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam against possible attacks by Egypt. However, Israel denies these allegations.
Talks collapsed earlier this month over the construction of the $5 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which is around 70% complete and promises to provide much-needed electricity to Ethiopia’s 100 million people.
But Egypt, with a population of around the same size, fears that the process of filling the reservoir behind the dam could slice into its share of the river, with catastrophic consequences. Pro-government media have cast it as a national security threat that could warrant military action.
Speaking at the UN last month, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said he would “never” allow Ethiopia to impose a “de facto situation” by filling the dam without an agreement.
Abdallah el-Senawy, a prominent columnist for the daily newspaper el-Shorouk, said the only alternatives were internationalizing the dispute or taking military action.
Anwar el-Hawary, the former editor of the Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper, compared the dispute to the 1973 Yom Kippur War with Israel, in which Egypt launched a surprise attack into the Sinai Peninsula.
“If we fought to liberate Sinai, it is logical to fight to liberate the water,” he wrote on Facebook. “The danger is the same in the two cases. War is the last response.”
Israeli connection in the region, is not new. In the aftermath of the 1998 US embassy bombings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad became active in the East Africa region under the pretext of combating terrorism. Israel’s intelligence services have continued their operations in Africa to the present day, most notably in Kenya. In 2013, during an attack on the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi blamed on the Somali Al-Shabab group, Israeli forces quickly intervened in support of Kenyan troops to regain control of the mall.
In the economic and commercial fields, meanwhile, thousands of Israelis work in significant economic centres in East Africa, especially in the areas of trade, agricultural management, and project services. In these areas, Israeli companies monopolise many of the economic activities in Kenya, Uganda, and Ethiopia, as is demonstrated by the number of Israeli companies working in the region. In particular, the Israeli company, Solel Boneh, works in the construction sector, establishing air and seaports and constructing residential and government buildings. Other examples are Agrotop, which engages in the development of agriculture, CORE, which produces electronic equipment, as well as electrical and metal devices, and Motorola Israel, which is involved in extending electricity and water networks and importing water control devices, while another Israeli firm, Carmel Chemicals, which specialises in chemical production, has a number of projects in East Africa.
Meanwhile, meetings between Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan in the Congolese capital of Kinshasa, which aim to re-launch deadlocked negotiations over the disputed Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), have been extended to Tuesday today, after talks yesterday concluded with no progress due to persisting differences.
The African Union (AU) sponsored talks have been extended to Tuesday (today) morning to allow for the drafting of a concluding statement after an intervention by Felix Tshisekedi, the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) and current chairman of the AU.
We hope the brotherly nations will not be led into a war with far devastating consequences to their people and economies because of the Zionists whisperings.
By:
Dr. Mustafa Mheta
Senior researcher/Head of Africa Desk
Media Review Network
South Africa
Johannesburg
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