Amid a continued impasse over a controversial Ethiopian dam on the Blue Nile, Egypt has signed a defense cooperation agreement with Kenya – the fourth defense agreement with East African nations this year and the second with a nation on Ethiopia’s borders.
On Wednesday, an Egyptian military delegation to Nairobi signed a Technical Agreement on Defence Cooperation “aimed at deepening partnership in matters of mutual benefit,” the Kenyan Ministry of Defense announced.
In April, Egypt also signed a memorandum of understanding on intelligence sharing with Uganda and a defense cooperation agreement with Burundi.
The move comes as Sudan accused Ethiopia of beginning the second phase of filling the reservoir behind the huge Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), a hydroelectric dam on the Blue Nile. Sudan and Egypt, which sit downstream from the dam and are heavily dependent on the river for fresh water and irrigation, are afraid the dam could threaten their water supply and have attempted to stop its construction with diplomatic and legal pressure for years.
Addis Ababa says the 6,000-megawatt dam, being built with Chinese help, is necessary to alleviate its acute electricity shortages and that it is asserting its rights over water resources long governed by colonial-era agreements, when the British Empire ruled both Egypt and Sudan. When completed, it will be the largest hydroelectric dam in Africa and the seventh-largest in the world.
Before heading to Egypt, however, Al Thani spent the weekend in Khartoum to “review the bilateral relations and the spheres of joint cooperation,” according to SUNA. He also reportedly affirmed Doha’s willingness to support Sudan in diplomatic issues, including the GERD dispute and its longstanding border demarcation dispute with Ethiopia.
On Monday, the day after Thani left Khartoum, the UAE suddenly dropped its role as a mediator in the Sudan-Ethiopia border dispute, but said it would continue to respect Khartoum’s position.
Kenya, too, has its reasons for wanting friends against Ethiopia.
Both nations also share a border with Somalia, and are deeply embedded in Somali politics. In 2006, Ethiopian troops joined forces from the US and African Union to drive out the Islamic Courts Union and restore the power of the Transitional Federal Government. However, their presence, the collapse of the ICU and the rise of Al-Shabaab helped create a destructive new phase of the civil war, and Ethiopian forces only withdrew in 2008.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
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