Trump’s comment on Nile dam ‘explosion’ enrages Ethiopia

Ethiopia’s prime minister has said his country “will not give in to aggression of any kind” after President Donald Trump suggested Egypt could destroy a controversial Nile dam.

Ethiopia’s Great Renaissance Dam is at the center of a long-running dispute involving Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan.

Trump said Egypt could not live with the dam and could “blow up” the construction.

Ethiopia believes that the United States is siding with Egypt in the dispute.

The United States announced in September that it would cut some aid to Ethiopia after it began filling the reservoir behind the dam in July.

On Saturday, Ethiopia’s foreign minister summoned the U.S. ambassador to clarify President Trump’s comments.

Egypt relies for most of its water needs on the Nile and worries that supplies will be cut off and its economy will weaken as Ethiopia takes control of the flow of Africa’s longest river.

Once completed, the $ 4bn (£ 3bn) structure on the Blue Nile in western Ethiopia will be the largest hydroelectric project in Africa.

The speed with which Ethiopia fills the dam will govern Egypt’s gravity – the slower the better when it comes to Cairo. That process is expected to take several years.

Sudan, higher than Egypt, is also concerned about water shortages.

Ethiopia, which announced the start of construction in 2011, says it needs the dam for its economic development.

The negotiations between the three countries were being chaired by the United States, but are now overseen by the African Union.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed did not directly address Trump’s comments, but there seems to be little doubt as to what prompted his blunt comments.

The Ethiopians would finish the dam, he promised.

“Ethiopia will not give in to aggression of any kind,” it said in a statement. “Ethiopians have never knelt to obey their enemies, but to respect their friends. We will not do so today or in the future.”

Threats of any kind on the subject were “mistaken, unproductive and clear violations of international law.”

In a separate statement, the Foreign Ministry said: “Incitement to war between Ethiopia and Egypt by a sitting US president does not reflect the long-standing partnership and strategic alliance between Ethiopia and the United States nor is it acceptable in international law governing inter-state relations “.

The president was speaking by phone with Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in front of journalists at the White House on Friday.

The occasion was the decision of Israel and Sudan to agree to diplomatic relations in a move choreographed by the United States.

The issue of the dam came up and Trump and Hamdok expressed their hopes for a peaceful resolution of the dispute.

But Trump also said that “it is a very dangerous situation because Egypt will not be able to live that way.”

He continued: “And I said it and I say it loud and clear: they will blow up that dam. And they have to do something.”

Abiy maintains that the negotiations have advanced further since the African Union began mediation.

But there are fears that Ethiopia’s decision to start filling the reservoir could overshadow hopes of resolving key areas, such as what happens during a drought and how to resolve future disputes.