War Over Water? Dispute Between Egypt and Ethiopia Over Nile Grows After Violent Threats Made On Egyptian TV

An excerpt from, “Ethiopia: Halting Dam’s Construction Unthinkable” by Marthe van der Wolf (VOA News, June 6, 2013):

Tensions between Egypt and Ethiopia are
rising after Ethiopia began diverting the water of a Nile River
tributary to build the continent’s biggest hydroelectric power plant. 
Despite criticism from Egypt, Ethiopia says construction of the dam will
proceed.

Ethiopia summoned the Egyptian ambassador this week to demand an
explanation after Egyptian politicians were overheard on a live
broadcast discussing ways to sabotage the Great Ethiopian Renaissance
Dam.

The spokesperson of the Ethiopian Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, Dina Mufti, says Ethiopia is surprised by the tone
of Egyptian officials.

“Whether those propaganda that are coming from that corner are the
government’s position or not, we have asked for verification.  We are
caught by surprise because some government officials, party leaders and
civil society leaders, they were talking about Ethiopia violently and we
were surprised.  We are waiting for this tone to be watered down very
soon,” said Dina Mufti.

An excerpt from, “Morsi Aide Apologizes After Ethiopia Remarks Broadcast Live” (VOA News, June 4, 2013):

Egyptian politicians have proposed ways to sabotage an Ethiopian dam
project in talks that were televised live without the politicians’
knowledge.

An aide to Egypt’s president apologized for failing to tell the
politicians they were on the air Monday during the meeting with
President Mohamed Morsi in Cairo.

The aide said on Twitter that a decision was made at the last minute to
air the meeting live, due to the importance of the topic.

Ethiopia has angered Egypt with its plans to construct a massive hydroelectric dam on the Blue Nile, a key Nile River tributary.

During Monday’s meeting, an Islamist party leader suggested Egypt
support Ethiopian rebels to exert pressure on Addis Ababa. A liberal
politician suggested spreading rumors that Egypt was buying military
planes for possible airstrikes.

An excerpt from, “Risk of water wars rises with scarcity,” by Chris Arsenault (Al Jazeera, August 26, 2012):

The battle for control of the life-giving waters of the Nile has gone on for centuries and continues to this day.

The current tenuous political situation in Egypt means
that “if the army wants to divert attention away from criticism, it
would probably do something against Ethiopia,” water expert Adel Darwish
told Al Jazeera.

An excerpt from, “The Geopolitics of Water in the Nile River Basin,” by Prof. Majeed A. Rahman (Global Research, July 24, 2011):

Ethiopia has pushed forward her demand to develop water resources
through hydroelectric power along the Nile. However, for several
decades, Egypt has denied other riparian countries complete access to
water resources along the Nile, and for that matter has exercised her
hegemonic powers over the development and control of the use of water
resources in the Nile river basin for many decades. The Nile river basin
has survived centuries, and for many years has served as Egypt’s
economic hub, political power and growth since ancient times. The water
resources in the Nile basins have also served as economic, political,
social and cultural achievements of Egypt’s influence in the sub region.

Video: Politicians, Unaware They Are on Air, Threaten Ethiopia over Dam Construction (Source: MEMRI TV)

Video: Egyptian Official Comments On Negative Global Reaction To Video of Egyptian Politicians Discussing Violent Means To Sabotage Ethiopia’s Dam Project