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Sawiris: I Vote for War if Ethiopia Harms Egypt's Nile Rights


Thu 23 Jul 2020 | 11:41 PM
Taarek Refaat

Egyptian Billionaire Naguib Sawiris said that he would vote for war if Ethiopia harms Egypt's right to the Nile waters through the use of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

He added in an interview with The Africa Report website that Egypt depends 100% on the River Nile to provide its water needs, pointing out that if someone decided to turn off the tap, farmland will dry up and people will start dying from starvation and food shortage.

"Imagine someone locks you in your house and suddenly you don’t have food and you’re out of food. Egypt depends 100% on the Nile for its distillation and agriculture. If someone decided to go out and close the tap suddenly all your land will dry up and  people will start to die. What can they do? Just watch themselves die? Or go fight for their right?," Sawiris said.

He added if anyone is to blame for starting a war against Ethiopia, it is Ethiopia itself.

"After thousands of years, they turned off the tap. The Nile has been running in Egypt since the Pharaohs," He pointed out.

"As an Egyptian, I will  personally vote for a war if they close the walls around us," Sawiris noted.

He added that Egypt currently enjoys good relations with all countries of the continent, with the exception of one country.

"The Nile comes to us, through four or five African countries with which we we have good relations – with the exception of one, we have a bad relation with," Sawiris concluded.

It is noteworthy that Ethiopia started filling the dam a day after talks with Egypt and Sudan.