Cairo: At a time when Ethiopia celebrated the inauguration of the Al-Nahda Dam on the Nile, construction of which began in 2011, Egypt emphatically affirmed its rejection of unilateral filling and operating the dam, warning of forecast hazards to the livelihood and environment of the two nations.
According to Kuwait News Agency, despite a statement by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali during the inauguration ceremony last Tuesday that the dam construction, which cost USD five billion, would not affect development in neighboring countries, Egypt, which totally depends on the Nile waters, affirmed it would not allow Addis Ababa to seize water resources unilaterally.
Egypt, addressing the UN Security Council, emphasized that it would reserve the right, according to international law and the UN charter, to defend its people's existential interests. In August, Egyptian President Abdelfattah Al-Sisi warned that Egypt would not stay passive vis a vis any threat against its water security and re-affirmed Cairo would take all necessary measures, in line with international law, to safeguard the Egyptian people's resources.
Following futile mediation bids by the US, the World Bank, Russia, the UAE, and the African Union, Cairo eyes other tracks to find a solution to the crisis. In this regard, the former assistant foreign minister Salah Halima said in remarks to KUNA that the filling of the dam was illegal and illegitimate because Ethiopia explicitly breached the relevant international laws, charters, and agreements, namely the accords of 1902, 1903, and 2015.
Ambassador Halima said the dam construction would threaten the livelihood of the two nations, Egypt and Ethiopia, and that it was tantamount to a form of aggression that must be resisted and foiled. Egypt faces three options to tackle the issue; that Ethiopia abandon unilateral and de facto policies and cooperate fully with Egypt and Sudan according to international accords and charters to reach a legal and fair agreement.
Another choice is addressing the crisis via a fair mediator, Ambassador Halima said, indicating gestures by Washington to trade a settlement for the dam issue for resolving other files. He indicated at a short-lived accord during the first term of US President Donald Trump, when Ethiopia refrained from signing it.
Thirdly, Ambassador Halima has indicated in this regard that Egypt is seeking UN assistance under Chapter 6, where such a conflict can be resolved cordially-and in the event this leads to nowhere, then there can be resort to Chapter 7 for Egypt reserves its legitimate right to defend its water rights with all means. Egypt is exhausting all cordial means to resolve the strife peacefully as stipulated in international law, namely the tenth article of the International Declaration of Principles, he said, noting that the Nile is an international river with common sovereignty, thus there is no room for unilateral or de facto actions.
The prime objective of building the dam is not solely for development, as Ethiopia claims, as there are other illicit goals; such as Ethiopia's planned hegemony over the waters that also reach Sudan, Ambassador Halima said. He warned of looming dangers threatening the livelihood and existence of two states and peoples, alluding to prospected drought. He also warned that vast areas would be swamped in case the dam collapsed. In such a dire event, water would submerge all Sudanese cities, including the capital Khartoum. Egypt would suffer less in such an eventuality.
Meanwhile, the former assistant foreign minister Ambassador Mohammad Hijazi said Addis Ababa's inauguration of the dam was a flagrant breach of its commitments as stipulated by the norms of international law that govern trans-border rivers and an explicit violation of the good neighborliness norms and cooperation of the littoral states. Ethiopia's unilateral approach constitutes a direct threat to the region's security and stability and threatens the interests and rights of more than 150 million Egyptian and Sudanese citizens who depend on the Nile as the main and necessary source for living, Ambassador Hijazi said.
He affirmed that Egypt would not adopt a compromising stand in defending its historic and legal rights that date back to centuries back. Moreover, it reserves the right to take all necessary political, diplomatic, and legal measures including the options provided by the UN charters for states to defend their rights and national security. Egypt will exert maximum pressures on Ethiopia to engage seriously and constructively in the negotiations to reach a fair and balanced agreement, he said, and avert a regional conflict that would ultimately threaten the security of the Gulf and the Red Sea, international trade, and marine shipping as well as international peace and security.
Egypt possesses "rough means," such as the imposition of a siege and standing in the face of funding Ethiopian ventures, he warned further.