Egypt has "never threatened anyone throughout history" either directly or indirectly despite its military might, President Abdul Fattah El-Sisi said Friday. He made the remarks during a meeting with delegates who attended inauguration of July 3 Naval Base, West of Alexandria, the official MENA news agency reported late Saturday night. El-Sisi spoke of Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and said Egypt recognized the development needs of Addis Ababa "but this development should not be at the expense of others," in reference to Egypt and Sudan. Egypt has been trying to reach an international legally binding agreement in the past 10 years, he said, but "we cannot negotiate forever", while thanking Egypt's friends for trying to mediate in order to find a solution for the dam issue. El-Sisi had also issued a warning earlier that Ethiopia's enormous dam project, upstream on the Nile, risked causing "unimaginable instability". "Nobody will be permitted to take a single drop of Egypt's water, otherwise the region will fall into unimaginable instability," El-Sisi told reporters, when asked about the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). "Any act of hostility is detestable... but our reaction in the event that we are affected" by a reduction in Egypt's own water supply "will affect the stability of the entire region," he insisted recently in the Suez city of Ismailia. Egypt's share of the Nile's waters "is a red line", El-Sisi said, although "we have never threatened (anyone) and I am not issuing a threat". Meanwhile, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shurky has said Cairo would propose before the UN Security Council in a meeting next Thursday the discussion of the Ethiopian renaissance dam. Shukry, quoted by MENA during a TV interview last night, said 10 years of negotiations were fruitless and the Ethiopians repeatedly violated the agreement of principles and proceeded to fill the reservoir. "We will place before the Security Council and international community their responsibilities, because this issue threatens international peace, security and stability. The council should contain any possible escalation," he said. Shukry hoped the UNSC adopts a position that increased the possibilities of reaching a binding agreement for Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia. Egypt, he said, has full confidence in the African Union to tackle this issue and reach an agreement. Ethiopia sees the dam as crucial for its development, helping boost its power production, while Cairo believes it threatens its supply of Nile waters that is vital to sustain life there. GERD is being constricted on the Blue Nile, 15 kms from the Sudanese borders, with a reservoir capacity of 74 billion cubic meters, and is expected to generate 6,000 megawatts. — Agencies
