---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: John Ashworth <[email protected]> Date: Fri, May 6, 2011 at 8:06 PM Subject: [sudan-john-ashworth] Fwd: Ethiopia agrees to Egyptian request to delay ratifying Nile Basin Initiative To: Group <[email protected]>
Ethiopia agrees to Egyptian request to delay ratifying Nile Basin Initiative Text of report in English by Egyptian newspaper Al-Misri al-Yawm website on 5 May Ethiopia's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said his country has agreed to the request made by the Egyptian popular diplomacy delegation to postpone the Ethiopian Parliament's ratification of the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) Cooperative Framework Agreement (SFA), so as to reassure the Egyptian people that the project will not harm them in any way. The Egyptian delegation was received by Ethiopian President Girma Wolde Giorgis at the presidential palace in Addis Ababa on Saturday. The delegation includes 48 public figures representing a wide array of political parties and revolutionary coalitions. The delegation had requested that the ratification be delayed until Egypt elects its new president so as to allow Egypt the time it needs to study and sign the agreement. Ethiopia, along with six African countries, signed the agreement, which aims to establish new joint controls over the Nile in terms of use and maintenance. In a statement on Wednesday to the Daily Monitor, an independent Ethiopian newspaper, Dessalines said, "Ethiopia also approved the delegation's request to allow a team of experts to examine the effects of the Grand Millennium Dam, which is to be built near the Sudanese border to generate electricity, so as to assure the Egyptians that the project will not harm them." During the reign of ousted President Husni Mubarak, the dam project caused tensions between Ethiopia and Egypt to rise. The Egyptian administration had reservations regarding the possible impact on Egypt's share of Nile waters, which amount to 55 million cubic meters annually, not to mention Israel's support for the project. Source: Al-Misri al-Yawm website, Cairo, in English 5 May 11 BBC Monitoring END ______________________ John Ashworth Sudan Advisor Sudan Ecumenical Forum [email protected] +254 725 926 297 (Kenya mobile) +249 919 695 362 (Sudan mobile) +27 82 853 3556 (South Africa mobile) +44 750 304 1790 (UK/international) +88 216 4334 0735 (Thuraya satphone) PO Box 52002 - 00200, Nairobi, Kenya This is a personal e-mail address and the contents do not necessarily reflect the views of any organisation -- The content of this message does not necessarily reflect John Ashworth's views. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, John Ashworth is not the author of the content and the source is always cited. You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "sudan-john-ashworth" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.co.za/group/sudan-john-ashworth -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "JFD info" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/jfdinfo?hl=en.
