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Egypt angered by Ethiopian plan to build 100 new dams

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) –
Amid an ongoing dispute over Ethiopia’s currently unfinished dam on the Nile river’s main tributary, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ahmed Hafez has angrily criticized Ethiopian Prime Minister Abi Ahmed’s recent announcement that he plans to build “100 new small and medium-sized dams” in the next year, Voice of America reports.

Ethiopia’s controversial filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam has given rise to conflict with Egypt and neighboring Sudan: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi has said that Ethiopia must work out a fair and balanced agreement with affected countries, as the Dam affects the whole region.

In a statement broadcast by Egyptian media, Hafez said the Ethiopian government’s declared plan to build new dams is “a sign of Ethiopia’s ill intentions” in regard to resolving the Renaissance Dam dispute, VOA said. Ethiopia must “coordinate such plans with its neighbors before causing them damage,” Hafez added.

During a press conference last week, el-Sissi had emphasized that he hoped to reach a diplomatic solution to the dispute with Ethiopia, VOA said.

Nevertheless, in recent days Egypt, Sudan, and other regional countries have been conducting military maneuvers in a show of readiness should the conflict escalate to violence.