Ethiopia fends off Arab conspiracy theories

JERUSALEM, June 30, 2004 (IsraelNN.com) — Petros Olango, deputy speaker of the Ethiopian parliament, denied allegations against his country and Israel made in the Arabic and African press regarding a conspiracy to deprive Egypt and Sudan of Nile water.

According to articles that periodically appear in the Arabic and Muslim African press, Israel is pushing Ethiopia to construct dams along Nile tributaries in order to cut back on Nile water shared with Sudan and Egypt. Of late, the accusations were made after Ethiopian president Meles Zenawi signed taxation, cultural, educational and scientific cooperation agreements with Israel during a visit to the Jewish State earlier this month.

In an interview published Monday in the Kuwaiti daily Al-Rai Al-Aam, Olango said that the reports of a conspiracy with Israel to steal Nile waters are baseless. He explained the nature of Ethiopia’s latest agreements with Israel, adding that Israel is involved in helping his country reclaim arid lands. Olango also noted that Ethiopia and Israel cooperated on the issue of the emigration to Israel of Ethiopian Jews.

Olango emphasized, however, that Ethiopia maintains an interest in seeing that its relations with the Arab states are not harmed because of its cooperation with Israel.