Egypt warns ‘all options open’ on Ethiopia dam

Last updated: June 5, 2013 7:05 pm

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A picture taken on May 28, 2013 shows the Blue Nile in Guba, Ethiopia, during its diversion ceremony. Ethiopia has begun diverting the Blue Nile as part of a giant dam project, officials said on May 29, 2013 risking potential unease from downstream nations Sudan and Egypt. The $4.2 billion (3.2 billion euro) Grand Renaissance Dam hydroelectric project had to divert a short section of the river -- one of two major tributaries to the main Nile -- to allow the main dam wall to be built. "To build the dam, the natural course must be dry," said Addis Tadele, spokesman for the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo), a day after a formal ceremony at the construction site. (AFP PHOTO / WILLIAM LLOYD GEORGE)

(AFP) – An adviser to Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi warned on Wednesday that “all options are open” in dealing with an Ethiopian Nile river dam if it harms Egypt’s water supply, state media reported.

“It is Egypt’s right to defend its interests, and other people have a right to seek their own interests. But there must be guarantees that the Ethiopian dam will not harm Egypt otherwise all options are open,” Ayman Ali said.