CAIRO - The
Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, launched a severe attack on Ethiopia and its Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, against the background of the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry's rejection of the Arab League's decision on the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam crisis, accusing it of siding with Egypt and Sudan.
In response to a question from the Egyptian journalist, who is close to the Egyptian authority, Ahmed Moussa, about Ethiopia's daring against the Arab League, and the issuance of statements in which Addis Ababa called on the League to be silent;
Aboul Gheit said - in statements to the "On My Responsibility" program on "Echo of the Country" channel - that the university will not remain silent over violations of international law, and will fully support Egypt and Sudan in the file of the Renaissance Dam.
fragile state
During the interview, which was broadcast on Sunday evening;
The Secretary-General of the League of Arab States said that Ethiopia is "fragile", due to the spread of many incompatible ethnicities, and in his quest to gather this ethnicity in the current elections, Abi Ahmed and his government want to play the role of "Rambo" against the whole world.
Aboul Gheit also denounced Ethiopia's attempt to claim the existence of an Arab-African clash, in a failed attempt to put African countries in the face of the Arab League, noting that two-thirds of the citizens of the Arab world are Africans, and nine member states of the League are African states, pointing to the awareness of the members of the League of these attempts.
The university supports Egypt and Sudan
And the Arab League announced last Tuesday - after a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Qatar - the invitation of the UN Security Council to convene to discuss the dispute over Ethiopia's intention to start the second filling of the Renaissance Dam it is building on the Blue Nile.
The Arab countries called on Ethiopia to negotiate "in good faith and refrain from taking any unilateral measures that would harm the water interests of Egypt and Sudan." Aboul Gheit described the water security of Egypt and Sudan as an integral part of Arab national security.
The Arab League expressed deep concern over Ethiopia's announcement of its intention to start the second phase of filling the dam's reservoir in the rainy season this year without an agreement on filling and operating the dam.
Ethiopian rejection
For its part, Ethiopia rejected the position of the Arab League, describing it as unfair, and affirmed its refusal to internationalize and politicize the crisis, calling on Egypt and Sudan to return to negotiations instead of seeking to internationalize the file in regional and international forums.
The Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its dissatisfaction with the Arab League's decision, and rejected - in a statement - the conditions set by the League's statement related to filling the dam's reservoir, accusing it of giving priority to the water security priorities of downstream countries without any consideration of the interests of the upstream countries.
The statement said that the Arab League missed the opportunity that was available to it to play a constructive role in the Renaissance Dam crisis, stressing at the same time that the second filling of the dam will take place on time and is not subject to discussion.
Last Wednesday, Ethiopian Foreign Ministry spokesman Dina Mufti said that his country rejects the League's interference in the dam file, adding that it is not the first time that the Arab League has sided with Egypt, and that the only way to resolve the dam crisis is direct dialogue between the three countries: Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt. .
Egyptian reply
For its part, Egypt strongly objected to the statement of the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the decision of the Arab League Council on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, and said that it lacked courtesy and diplomacy, and contained an unacceptable insult to the Arab League and its countries.
The statement of the Egyptian Foreign Ministry added that "the Ethiopian approach indicates an intention to exercise hegemony over the Nile River and to establish itself as a single beneficiary of its bounties. This was manifested in Ethiopia's insistence on filling the Renaissance Dam unilaterally without reaching an agreement with the two downstream countries."
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry described Ethiopia’s behavior as “an attempt to hold the course of negotiations hostage to internal political considerations, which represents a material breach of the Declaration of Principles Agreement (signed between the three countries in 2015) and proves beyond any doubt Ethiopia’s bad faith and its lack of political will to reach a fair and balanced agreement on the dam. Renaissance".
Despite the Egyptian-Sudanese efforts to intensify political pressure on Addis Ababa, the latest of which was the meeting of Arab foreign ministers, Ethiopia insists that the second filling is not negotiable and will take place on time, while Egypt has said on more than one occasion that all options remain on the table regarding the crisis.