CAIRO: Members of the Egyptian popular delegation that visited Ethiopia this week hailed the "successful" outcome of the visit and the warm reception by the Ethiopian people and officials.
The delegation returned Tuesday to Egypt after a four-day visit in which they met Ethiopian President Girma Wolde-Giorgis and Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who agreed to postpone ratification of the new Nile water treaty until a new Egyptian president and parliament are elected.
“The visit has achieved all its goals, the Prime Minister agreed to postpone the treaty and renegotiate its terms and form technical committees that would comprise Egyptian experts to study the new Renaissance Dam, and if it affects Egypt’s share of the water, he will stop the project until solutions are found," said judge Hisham Al-Bastawesy, presidential candidate and member of the delegation.
"The Prime Minister said that he won’t allow harming Egypt and agreed to cooperate in establishing a regional bloc for Nile Basin countries to undergo comprehensive development projects," he added.
Members of the delegation cited a "surprisingly warm welcome" by the people and government of Ethiopia.
"We were nervous during the flight about how they will receive us but we were very impressed by the warm welcome and it raised our morale," said Karima Al-Hefnawy, member of the National Association for Change (NAC) and member of the delegation.
"The spirit of the Egyptian revolution helped us a lot in breaking the ice during the visit. We carried out the revolution demanding freedom and justice which means the welfare of every human being and justice between the people of the Nile Basin," she added.
Members of the delegation said that they were told that the policies of the ousted regime have negatively affected relations with Ethiopia because it was based on "arrogance and threats."
The delegation agreed to provide scholarships for Ethiopian students in Egyptian universities under the sponsorship of the Egyptian Ministry of Higher Education.
"Unlike what we have been told by the ousted regime, we found the Ethiopian people welcoming and loving to Egypt. They wanted to distract the Egyptian people with a pseudo crisis to facilitate the project of power inheritance," Al-Bastawesy said.
He said that Egypt has presented a model for other countries on how the people and the government can integrate to serve the foreign policy of the country. This is a natural outcome when the government is democratically elected, he added.
Prime Minister Essam Sharaf is set to visit Ethiopia next week.
Members of the delegation are expected to organize similar visits to other Nile Basin countries.
