After the Kinshasa negotiation failure Al-Sisi renews his threat

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General Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi renewed his warning against compromising Egypt’s share of the Nile water, saying that a drop of water would not be compromised, hinting at his country’s openness to all options.

Ethiopia is building the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) amid Egyptian and Sudanese fears of violating the historical agreement over the Nile water. These fears multiplied due to Ethiopia’s refusal to reach an agreement.

During a tour of the Administrative Capital, Al-Sisi said that cooperation and agreement are much better than any other work. He referred to his country’s coordination with Sudan and the movement within the international law framework regulating the water flow through international rivers. Al-Sisi’s statements came after the announcement of the Congo negotiations’ failure under the auspices of the African Union. He preceded the Kinshasa negotiations by making threats to Ethiopia.

The negotiations’ failure sparked debate on social media about the possibility of going to war, amid accusations by the Al-Sisi regime and his repeated failure and corruption that squandered the Nile’s waters. On the other hand, the Egyptian media (loyal to the regime) mouthpieces focused its anger on the January 25 2011 revolution, accusing the revolution of destabilising the country and enabling Ethiopia to build the Renaissance Dam, which angered many activists.

Al-Sisi’s statements and threats to Ethiopia for the second time came in conjunction with Ethiopian officials’ statements confirming their country’s determination to proceed towards the second filling of the reservoir of the Renaissance Dam.

The Ethiopian Minister of Water and Irrigation, Sileshi Bekele, said that any attempt to block the second filling of the Renaissance Dam would constitute a great loss to Ethiopia, amounting to $ 1 billion. Bekele said, during a press conference, that his country proceeded with the process of the second filling of the Renaissance Dam, and it will be on schedule according to what was planned. No one can change the date of the second filling because it is a process that is technically linked to construction.

On the other hand, Sameh Shoukry, the Egyptian foreign minister, said that the next step after the failure of the Kinshasa negotiations on the Renaissance Dam is full coordination with the brothers in Sudan because the interest is the same. Shoukry considered that Ethiopia’s announcement of filling the dam confirms it is not willing to negotiate. This is a very dangerous matter, and the step to embark on the second filling is dangerous.