Ethiopian projects on the Nile, ruled out

Egypt's Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Mahmoud Abu Zeid ruled out any Ethiopian projects on the Nile where Israeli experts could be working.

"There are Israeli experts in Ethiopia but they are working only in tap water and sanitary drainage projects," said Abu Zeid in his address to a meeting of the parliamentary Agriculture and Irrigation Committee on Tuesday.

"The Nile Basin countries have agreed that no projects affecting the downstream countries should be set up without prior consent from the countries concerned and that the water shares of Egypt and Sudan are intact," he said, adding that he and his Sudanese and Ethiopian counterparts met in Addis Ababa and were posted on the Ethiopian national water plan.

"The plan, which benefits Ethiopia for fifty years, has been prepared by French, Italian and British consultants," said Abu Zeid, noting that there are no Israeli experts involved. "Even Ethiopia does not have the financial resources to fund any of the huge investments it needs in this domain," added Abu Zeid.

"When Ethiopia applied for the African Bank for Development to finance an irrigation project, the bank contacted Egypt and Sudan to ensure that the project would not affect their quota," said the Minister, noting that any international financial institution would observe the same procedure.

"The ten Nile basin member-states will meet in Sudan on March 28 to study a number of projects," Abu Zeid further added.