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Tog Wajale
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Tog Wajale
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- Posts: 4918
- Joined: 23 Dec 2017, 07:23
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Tog Wajale
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- Posts: 4918
- Joined: 23 Dec 2017, 07:23
Re: ABEN, ASRAT Media & The Mighty Amara, Mighty Eritrean Government 100%:Supports Funkil Movements !!!
CAIRO: Ethiopia has opened the floodgates to further controversy over a giant dam scheme by rejecting Egypt’s historic claims to the waters of the Nile.
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Ahead of the anticipated resumption of stalled talks over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) project, two Ethiopian ministers poured water over the Egyptian stance on river rights.
In a speech to political party representatives and religious leaders regarding the latest developments in GERD negotiations, Ethiopian Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy Seleshi Bekele said the talks, also involving Sudan, were being “clouded by Egypt’s tendency to recall and confirm the so-called (historic rights) in water, which can never be accepted by Ethiopia or Nile-sharing countries.”
Ethiopian Minister of Foreign Affairs Gedu Andargachew added that his country’s position was firm with regard to utilizing its water resources in a fair way “in accordance with the agreed cooperation principles and not causing any major damage.”
Meanwhile, Ethiopian religious leaders have called on the government to press ahead with the construction of the dam while negotiating with Nile-sharing countries.
Ethiopia’s official news agency ENA, reported that a statement issued during a press conference by the Ethiopian inter-religious council of seven institutions, “underlined Ethiopia’s natural right in developing the Nile.” The council also called for the resumption of tripartite discussions.
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Patriarch Abune Mathias said the government needed to continue with construction of the dam on the basis of mutual understanding with upstream countries and without any foreign intervention.
Mathias pointed out that the Ethiopian people had played a big part in funding the project in the hope of improving their living conditions and seeing the development for their country, adding that work should carry on “for the sake of the people” without causing any damage to Nile-sharing countries.
Cardinal Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel, head of the Ethiopian Catholic Church, said that Ethiopia had “the right to develop its rivers in order to provide electricity for millions of its citizens, just like Egypt did. Egyptians are provided with electricity better than the Ethiopians. In our situation, students and families do not have electricity.
“Upstream countries must know that the Ethiopian people do not have the intention to harm Egypt or Sudan,” he added.
Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Supreme Council Secretary-General Sheikh Qassem Mohammed Tag El-Din also agreed that Ethiopia should carry on with building the dam “in the best interest of its people who are living in darkness and who do not have electricity.
“Concerning the dam, we need to stand together in harmony and even make sacrifices if this is what it takes to complete the project,” he added.
The tripartite negotiations, which have been stalled for several months, are close to resuming.
The Sudanese Ministry of Irrigation announced that two separate meetings were recently held between Sudanese Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Yasser Abbas and his counterparts from Egypt and Ethiopia, Mohammed Abdel-Ati and Bekele, respectively.
The ministry added that two members of the delegation from each country attended the meetings which had been set up to pave the way for fresh GERD negotiations.
In a statement, Sudan’s irrigation ministry said that the ministerial meetings had followed recent talks held between Sudanese Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok and his Egyptian and Ethiopian counterparts.
Abbas Sheraqy, professor of water resources at Cairo University’s faculty of African studies, said Ethiopia’s attempts to return to the negotiation table to settle the GERD issue had swung between resumption and manipulation.
He pointed out that Ethiopia was ready to resume GERD discussions despite having failed to attend the final day of the last round of negotiations in Washington in February last year, when it was due to sign an agreement, drafted by the US in collaboration with the World Bank, on the filling and operation of the dam.
Ethiopia’s U-turn did “not befit a sovereign state that is a UN member under the pretext that it needed more consultations, as if nine years of negotiations were not enough,” he added.
Sheraqy underlined the need to resume the talks in Washington and not to allow Ethiopia to cancel them which, he said, was its precondition to resuming them. He added that Ethiopia recently called for allowing downstream countries to attend the negotiations under the umbrella of the African Union.
Addis Ababa, he noted, was aiming to waste time and further complicate the GERD issue and was pushing Egypt into a new issue with downstream countries.
Egypt has stressed during its negotiations with Ethiopia the need to maintain its historic rights to the Nile waters. A 1929 treaty (and a subsequent one in 1959) gave Egypt and Sudan rights to nearly all of the Nile waters. The document also gives Egypt veto powers over any projects by upstream countries that would affect its share of the waters.
Ethiopia launched construction in 2011 on the Blue Nile in the northern Ethiopian highlands, from where 85 percent of the Nile’s waters flow.
One of Egypt’s main worries is that if the water flow diminishes, it could affect Lake Nasser, the reservoir further downriver, behind Egypt’s Aswan Dam.
Ethiopia said that 73 percent of the GERD project had been completed. Its government is to start deliberations within a month on a date to start filling the dam.
Topics: ETHIOPIA NILE RIVER EGYPT GRAND RENAISSANCE DAM
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Russian jets deployment in Libya sparks fears of Ankara-Moscow clash
US AFRICOM: US Africa Command assesses that Moscow recently deployed military fighter aircraft to Libya in order to support Russian state-sponsored private military contractors
Turkey supports Syrian rebels and Libya’s Government of National Accord, while Russia backs Syria’s President Bashar Assad and the Libyan forces of Haftar
Updated 55 min 10 sec ago
ARAB NEWS
May 28, 2020 21:06
3243
JEDDAH: Russia’s deployment of fighter aircraft to Libya to support mercenaries backing eastern strongman Gen. Khalifa Haftar on Thursday ratcheted up the threat of a confrontation between Ankara and Moscow, experts warned.
In a statement, the US military’s Africa Command said: “US Africa Command assesses that Moscow recently deployed military fighter aircraft to Libya in order to support Russian state-sponsored private military contractors operating on the ground there.”
The warplanes had been painted “to camouflage their Russian origin,” the statement added.
Despite Moscow’s dismissal of claims about its role in the presence of Russian mercenaries in Libya, University of Oxford researcher Samuel Ramani said that new revelations about Russia deploying MiG-29 fighter jets to Libya could create tensions with Turkey.
“Russian jets are being deployed in order to stem the tide of Turkey’s military offensive, which has combined the use of ground force proxies and air force personnel in a hybrid warfare-style fashion. There is also the heightened risk of an accidental aerial conflict between Russia and Turkey,” he told Arab News.
The UN said on Wednesday it was following the developments “with great concern” and highlighted the possible “devastating consequences” of any breaches of an arms embargo imposed on Libya.
Turkey supports Syrian rebels and Libya’s Government of National Accord, while Russia backs Syria’s President Bashar Assad and the Libyan forces of Haftar.
In recent months, there have been steps for rapprochement between Assad and Haftar whose common enemy is still Turkey. Haftar decided to reopen the Libyan Embassy in the Syrian capital Damascus which had been closed for eight years, while flights resumed recently between Damascus and the Libyan city of Benghazi under Haftar’s domain.
However, Ramani pointed out that the long-term impact on Russia-Turkey relations was more unclear.
“Russia is reportedly scaling back its Wagner Group mercenary presence in Libya and replacing those forces with fighter jets, and it is unclear whether this will do more than stall Turkey’s advance, while Moscow pushes for a diplomatic settlement,” he said.
He noted the timing of the reports, which had come on the same day of a meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Libya’s House of Representatives’ (HOR) head Aguila Saleh.
Ramani added that Turkey was unlikely to change its conduct in Libya much, in response to Russia’s new developments, but would be more vigilant if Russia’s air war expanded, and the Russian S-400 defense system deal would likely remain in place.
“The only way the S-400 deal could collapse is if the US were to intervene in a material fashion that benefits Turkey and hurts Russia, which is a near-impossibility at present, due to (the coronavirus disease) COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.
Turkey was set to activate the S-400 missile defense system in April and risked harsh sanctions from Washington for the move. However, the target date was postponed officially due to the COVID-19 outbreak that changed national priorities.
But Turkish rulers still insist on using the Russian system, although it is unclear how the diverging moves in Libya recently would impact on their resolve.
In an interview with FRANCE 24 on May 25, Ibrahim Kalin, the spokesman for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said although Turkey had delayed the activation of the system due to the pandemic, the government was still planning to operate it.
Kalin also hinted that if the US were willing to send Patriot missiles to Turkey, Erdogan would be ready to listen to the offer.
Seth Frantzman, Middle East security analyst and executive director of the Middle East Center for Reporting and Analysis, said the Russian move meant to balance Ankara’s role in Libya and to make up for the losses in the Russian-made Pantsir air defense system and show Russia’s strength.
“It’s a bargaining chip related to Syria. Russia wants to show a strong hand in Libya to drive concessions in Syria’s rebel-held Idlib province, likely through a new regime offensive to illustrate that Russia is not abandoning its partners in Libya and that it is willing to symbolically commit air force assets very publicly,” he told Arab News.
Frantzman pointed out that while both Turkey and Russia worked together, they were also jockeying for popularity and influence in the region.
The UN said on Wednesday it was “following with great concern” claims that Russia sent jets to Libya.
The UN secretary-general’s spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said that, if proven, it would “constitute a flagrant violation of the arms embargo” imposed on Libya in 2011.
Without mentioning Russia, Dujarric said: “Reports of violations have increased significantly in the past few weeks, with reported near-daily transfers by air, land and sea.
“This increase in the violations of the arms embargo will only lead to the intensification of the fighting, which will result in devastating consequences for the Libyan people.”
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Ahead of the anticipated resumption of stalled talks over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) project, two Ethiopian ministers poured water over the Egyptian stance on river rights.
In a speech to political party representatives and religious leaders regarding the latest developments in GERD negotiations, Ethiopian Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy Seleshi Bekele said the talks, also involving Sudan, were being “clouded by Egypt’s tendency to recall and confirm the so-called (historic rights) in water, which can never be accepted by Ethiopia or Nile-sharing countries.”
Ethiopian Minister of Foreign Affairs Gedu Andargachew added that his country’s position was firm with regard to utilizing its water resources in a fair way “in accordance with the agreed cooperation principles and not causing any major damage.”
Meanwhile, Ethiopian religious leaders have called on the government to press ahead with the construction of the dam while negotiating with Nile-sharing countries.
Ethiopia’s official news agency ENA, reported that a statement issued during a press conference by the Ethiopian inter-religious council of seven institutions, “underlined Ethiopia’s natural right in developing the Nile.” The council also called for the resumption of tripartite discussions.
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Patriarch Abune Mathias said the government needed to continue with construction of the dam on the basis of mutual understanding with upstream countries and without any foreign intervention.
Mathias pointed out that the Ethiopian people had played a big part in funding the project in the hope of improving their living conditions and seeing the development for their country, adding that work should carry on “for the sake of the people” without causing any damage to Nile-sharing countries.
Cardinal Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel, head of the Ethiopian Catholic Church, said that Ethiopia had “the right to develop its rivers in order to provide electricity for millions of its citizens, just like Egypt did. Egyptians are provided with electricity better than the Ethiopians. In our situation, students and families do not have electricity.
“Upstream countries must know that the Ethiopian people do not have the intention to harm Egypt or Sudan,” he added.
Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Supreme Council Secretary-General Sheikh Qassem Mohammed Tag El-Din also agreed that Ethiopia should carry on with building the dam “in the best interest of its people who are living in darkness and who do not have electricity.
“Concerning the dam, we need to stand together in harmony and even make sacrifices if this is what it takes to complete the project,” he added.
The tripartite negotiations, which have been stalled for several months, are close to resuming.
The Sudanese Ministry of Irrigation announced that two separate meetings were recently held between Sudanese Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Yasser Abbas and his counterparts from Egypt and Ethiopia, Mohammed Abdel-Ati and Bekele, respectively.
The ministry added that two members of the delegation from each country attended the meetings which had been set up to pave the way for fresh GERD negotiations.
In a statement, Sudan’s irrigation ministry said that the ministerial meetings had followed recent talks held between Sudanese Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok and his Egyptian and Ethiopian counterparts.
Abbas Sheraqy, professor of water resources at Cairo University’s faculty of African studies, said Ethiopia’s attempts to return to the negotiation table to settle the GERD issue had swung between resumption and manipulation.
He pointed out that Ethiopia was ready to resume GERD discussions despite having failed to attend the final day of the last round of negotiations in Washington in February last year, when it was due to sign an agreement, drafted by the US in collaboration with the World Bank, on the filling and operation of the dam.
Ethiopia’s U-turn did “not befit a sovereign state that is a UN member under the pretext that it needed more consultations, as if nine years of negotiations were not enough,” he added.
Sheraqy underlined the need to resume the talks in Washington and not to allow Ethiopia to cancel them which, he said, was its precondition to resuming them. He added that Ethiopia recently called for allowing downstream countries to attend the negotiations under the umbrella of the African Union.
Addis Ababa, he noted, was aiming to waste time and further complicate the GERD issue and was pushing Egypt into a new issue with downstream countries.
Egypt has stressed during its negotiations with Ethiopia the need to maintain its historic rights to the Nile waters. A 1929 treaty (and a subsequent one in 1959) gave Egypt and Sudan rights to nearly all of the Nile waters. The document also gives Egypt veto powers over any projects by upstream countries that would affect its share of the waters.
Ethiopia launched construction in 2011 on the Blue Nile in the northern Ethiopian highlands, from where 85 percent of the Nile’s waters flow.
One of Egypt’s main worries is that if the water flow diminishes, it could affect Lake Nasser, the reservoir further downriver, behind Egypt’s Aswan Dam.
Ethiopia said that 73 percent of the GERD project had been completed. Its government is to start deliberations within a month on a date to start filling the dam.
Topics: ETHIOPIA NILE RIVER EGYPT GRAND RENAISSANCE DAM
HIDE COMMENTS
RELATED
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Egypt-Ethiopia tensions escalate over Nile mega-dam project
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Russian jets deployment in Libya sparks fears of Ankara-Moscow clash
US AFRICOM: US Africa Command assesses that Moscow recently deployed military fighter aircraft to Libya in order to support Russian state-sponsored private military contractors
Turkey supports Syrian rebels and Libya’s Government of National Accord, while Russia backs Syria’s President Bashar Assad and the Libyan forces of Haftar
Updated 55 min 10 sec ago
ARAB NEWS
May 28, 2020 21:06
3243
JEDDAH: Russia’s deployment of fighter aircraft to Libya to support mercenaries backing eastern strongman Gen. Khalifa Haftar on Thursday ratcheted up the threat of a confrontation between Ankara and Moscow, experts warned.
In a statement, the US military’s Africa Command said: “US Africa Command assesses that Moscow recently deployed military fighter aircraft to Libya in order to support Russian state-sponsored private military contractors operating on the ground there.”
The warplanes had been painted “to camouflage their Russian origin,” the statement added.
Despite Moscow’s dismissal of claims about its role in the presence of Russian mercenaries in Libya, University of Oxford researcher Samuel Ramani said that new revelations about Russia deploying MiG-29 fighter jets to Libya could create tensions with Turkey.
“Russian jets are being deployed in order to stem the tide of Turkey’s military offensive, which has combined the use of ground force proxies and air force personnel in a hybrid warfare-style fashion. There is also the heightened risk of an accidental aerial conflict between Russia and Turkey,” he told Arab News.
The UN said on Wednesday it was following the developments “with great concern” and highlighted the possible “devastating consequences” of any breaches of an arms embargo imposed on Libya.
Turkey supports Syrian rebels and Libya’s Government of National Accord, while Russia backs Syria’s President Bashar Assad and the Libyan forces of Haftar.
In recent months, there have been steps for rapprochement between Assad and Haftar whose common enemy is still Turkey. Haftar decided to reopen the Libyan Embassy in the Syrian capital Damascus which had been closed for eight years, while flights resumed recently between Damascus and the Libyan city of Benghazi under Haftar’s domain.
However, Ramani pointed out that the long-term impact on Russia-Turkey relations was more unclear.
“Russia is reportedly scaling back its Wagner Group mercenary presence in Libya and replacing those forces with fighter jets, and it is unclear whether this will do more than stall Turkey’s advance, while Moscow pushes for a diplomatic settlement,” he said.
He noted the timing of the reports, which had come on the same day of a meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Libya’s House of Representatives’ (HOR) head Aguila Saleh.
Ramani added that Turkey was unlikely to change its conduct in Libya much, in response to Russia’s new developments, but would be more vigilant if Russia’s air war expanded, and the Russian S-400 defense system deal would likely remain in place.
“The only way the S-400 deal could collapse is if the US were to intervene in a material fashion that benefits Turkey and hurts Russia, which is a near-impossibility at present, due to (the coronavirus disease) COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.
Turkey was set to activate the S-400 missile defense system in April and risked harsh sanctions from Washington for the move. However, the target date was postponed officially due to the COVID-19 outbreak that changed national priorities.
But Turkish rulers still insist on using the Russian system, although it is unclear how the diverging moves in Libya recently would impact on their resolve.
In an interview with FRANCE 24 on May 25, Ibrahim Kalin, the spokesman for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said although Turkey had delayed the activation of the system due to the pandemic, the government was still planning to operate it.
Kalin also hinted that if the US were willing to send Patriot missiles to Turkey, Erdogan would be ready to listen to the offer.
Seth Frantzman, Middle East security analyst and executive director of the Middle East Center for Reporting and Analysis, said the Russian move meant to balance Ankara’s role in Libya and to make up for the losses in the Russian-made Pantsir air defense system and show Russia’s strength.
“It’s a bargaining chip related to Syria. Russia wants to show a strong hand in Libya to drive concessions in Syria’s rebel-held Idlib province, likely through a new regime offensive to illustrate that Russia is not abandoning its partners in Libya and that it is willing to symbolically commit air force assets very publicly,” he told Arab News.
Frantzman pointed out that while both Turkey and Russia worked together, they were also jockeying for popularity and influence in the region.
The UN said on Wednesday it was “following with great concern” claims that Russia sent jets to Libya.
The UN secretary-general’s spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said that, if proven, it would “constitute a flagrant violation of the arms embargo” imposed on Libya in 2011.
Without mentioning Russia, Dujarric said: “Reports of violations have increased significantly in the past few weeks, with reported near-daily transfers by air, land and sea.
“This increase in the violations of the arms embargo will only lead to the intensification of the fighting, which will result in devastating consequences for the Libyan people.”
Topics: LIBYA RUSSIA TURKEY
SHOW COMMENTS
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3990
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-
Tog Wajale
- Member
- Posts: 4918
- Joined: 23 Dec 2017, 07:23
-
Tog Wajale
- Member
- Posts: 4918
- Joined: 23 Dec 2017, 07:23
-
Tog Wajale
- Member
- Posts: 4918
- Joined: 23 Dec 2017, 07:23
-
Tog Wajale
- Member
- Posts: 4918
- Joined: 23 Dec 2017, 07:23
-
Tog Wajale
- Member
- Posts: 4918
- Joined: 23 Dec 2017, 07:23
-
Tog Wajale
- Member
- Posts: 4918
- Joined: 23 Dec 2017, 07:23
-
Tog Wajale
- Member
- Posts: 4918
- Joined: 23 Dec 2017, 07:23