Khartoum — A senior Saudi Arabian official unleashed a barrage of attack against Ethiopia saying that the Horn of Africa nation is posing a threat to the Nile water rights of Egypt and Sudan.
"The [Grand] Renaissance dam has its capacity of flood waters reaching more than 70 billion cubic meters of water, and is located at an altitude of 700 meters and if it collapsed then Khartoum will drown completely and the impact will even reach the Aswan Dam," the Saudi deputy defense minister Khalid Bin Sultan said at the meetings of the Arab Water Council in Cairo.
"Egypt is the most affected party from the Ethiopian Renaissance dam because they have no alternative water source compared to other Nile Basin countries and the establishment of the dam 12 kilometers from the Sudanese border is for political plotting rather than for economic gain and constitutes a threat to Egyptian and Sudanese national security "the Saudi official said.
The massive $4.8 billion dam is under construction and is scheduled for completion in 2015. It lies close to Sudan's eastern borders and has a power generating capacity of 6,000MW and when completed it will enable Ethiopia to export more power to its neighbors.
Egypt fears that the Nile dam will reduce the flow of the river's waters further downstream and Addis Ababa has long complained that Cairo was pressuring donor countries and international lenders to withhold funding.
An international panel of experts is set to announce its findings on the impact of Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance Dam on the Nile's flow in May 2013.
The Saudi deputy defense minister went further saying that Ethiopia is keen on harming Arab nations.
"There are fingers messing with water resources of Sudan and Egypt which are rooted in the mind and body of Ethiopia. They do not forsake an opportunity to harm Arabs without taking advantage of it" Prince Khalid said.
"The establishment of the dam leads to the transfer of water supply from the front of Lake Nasser to the Ethiopian plateau, which means full Ethiopian control of every drop of water, as well as [causing] an environmental imbalance stirring seismic activity in the region as a result of the massive water weight laden with silt withheld in front of the dam, estimated by experts at more than 63 billion tonnes," he added.
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Ethiopian rulers are short-sighted in fomenting religious conflicts at home. Invading Somalia in 2006 when there was no danger to national security and in the meantime receive money from the US and using terrorism as excuse to appoint own leaders for Muslims [and now for Orthodox Christians] was a classic error of judgment. Saudi is merely trying to support Muslims. The problem is primarily those of Ethiopian rulers who think they can crush groups who do not agree with the… [Read Full Text]
Alem’s comment is identical to the toxic elements that are obsessed to gain political power by any means necessary including by sleeping with the enemy that will eventually eat them alive. They have been fomenting hate, and everything else that is morally, legally and politically indefensible and unattainable in today’s Ethiopia. As nothing has worked for them so far, they are trying to garner sustenance from the latest Saudi official. Let foes and friends know that Ethiopia has a… [Read Full Text]
This is the indirect hand of Egypt. Egypt and Saudi were planning to channel Ethiopian water to Saudi to develop that cursed desert of Saudi. The Muslim Brotherhood lead my Morsi is using his arab friends to provoke Ethiopia.
WE FEAR NO ARAB!
Saudi officials should first pay attention to the fact that Christian Ethiopians are put in jail in their land for the crime of prayer, before having the nerve to speak on the issues dealing with Arabs living in Africa!
In addition, what kind of moronic argument is it to think that a project should not be considered based on an "If there was an accident.." logic? How many projects on this planet would get canceled if we apply the… [Read Full Text]
THERE WILL BE NO WARS BETWEEN THOSE THREE VIBRANT, HEART THICKING AND VIGOROUS AFRICAN COUNTRIES. ALL AFRICA AND THOSE AFRICAN COUNTRIES NEED TO DO IS TO IGNORE ANY TROUBLE CAUSER COUNTRIES SUCH AS SAUDI ARABIA. IT MIGHT BE A POSSIBILITY THAT SOME OTHER DESTRUCTIVE COUNTRY(IES) IS GOING THROUGH THAT SAUDI ARABIA OFFICIAL WHO JUST WANTED TO BE HEARD BY CAUSING TROUBLES IN THE WORLD.
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