Egypt and Ethiopia agree to tone down propaganda war over water crisis

Egypt and Ethiopia have reached an agreement to halt their propaganda campaign and to dedicate themselves to political discussions toward resolving the crisis of the Renaissance Dam.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr said that discussions with his Ethiopian counterpart regarding the dam were constructive. The two parties have also agreed to go down a political path to resolving the outstanding issues.

Following meetings which took place on Monday, Amr said that they were in line with political efforts being exerted by his ministry to protect Egyptian water security.

An Egyptian diplomatic source said that the delegations agreed to tone down public opinion on the streets of both countries. They agreed, the source said, to go forward with the technical discussions conducted by experts.

The source also said the Ethiopian side asserted that the project aims at dealing with poverty and development problems in the country.

The Ethiopian side has previously shown flexibility, the diplomatic source noted, regarding the triplex Ethiopian, Egyptian and Sudanese committee and agreed to accept its recommendation. However, the source affirmed that Ethiopia is going ahead with the project.