Egyptian FM-designate: Ethiopian dam top priority

Foreign Minister-designate Nabil Fahmy asserted Sunday that the Ethiopian dam issue will top his agenda in the coming period. Speaking shortly after accepting the new position, Fahmy said several important files will figure high on his agenda including “restoring Egypt’s regional role and the Ethiopian dam.” Ethiopia unexpectedly announced in May changing the Blue Nile route as part of Renaissance dam project, which Egypt fears would affect its share of the Nile water. Fahmy, who served as Egypt’s ambassador to the US between 1999 and 2008, said earlier today that Prime Minister-designate Hazem Biblawi offered him the top diplomat job and he accepted. Biblawi was asked to form a new government by interim President Adly Mansour, who was sworn in under a roadmap by the powerful army that ousted elected President Mohammad Morsi and suspended the constitution.