Cairo was notified in advance about the diversion of the Blue Nile before the move was officially announced by Ethiopia late Monday evening, an informed government official told Ahram Online.
“We had already known this; we were notified and the president knew,” he said.
Ethiopia on Tuesday began diverting the course of the Blue Nile, one of the Nile River’s two major tributaries, as part of a project to build a new dam.
The move, called “historic” by Ethiopian government spokesman Bereket Simon, is likely to anger downstream Egypt and Sudan, both of which fear the move will negatively affect their annual quotas on Nile water.
Ethiopia’s ‘Renaissance Dam’ is one of four dams planned for construction along the Blue Nile, which provides Egypt with the lion’s share of its annual 55 billion cubic metres of Nile water.
On Monday, Ethiopian Foreign Minister Gebre-Christos said the dam, which is currently under construction and will be able to store some 84 million cubic metres of Nile water, would be used exclusively for power generation and would not reduce Egypt’s share of Nile water.
The Egyptian government source said that, during President Mohamed Morsi’s visit to Addis Ababa – which ended Monday evening only hours before the announcement – there had been unsuccessful attempts to convince the Ethiopian side to delay the move.
“There were attempts [to persuade Ethiopia to postpone the move] through several diplomatic channels, both direct and indirect, and during the president’s talks with senior Ethiopian officials,” the source said.
“President Morsi raised the matter, but it was clear Ethiopia is determined to go ahead.”
The source added that Addis Ababa was offering “reassurances” that it would be “sensitive” to Egyptian concerns and would “try to accommodate” Cairo’s demand that it fill the planned dam’s reservoir only gradually, so as to ensure that the effect on Egypt’s annual share of Nile water would not be too abrupt.
The Ethiopian move to redirect the course of the Blue Nile is perceived by Cairo as an indication of Addis Ababa’s determination to follow through with its plans, despite Egypt’s objections that such plans violate international agreements that put Egypt’s annual share of Nile water at 55 billion cubic metres.
Addis Ababa has repeatedly shrugged off these agreements, asserting that they deny all Nile Basin states – apart from Egypt and Sudan – any serious share of river water.
Read more at: Cairo knew of planned Blue Nile diversion in advance: Govt source – Ahram Online.
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