FM: Egypt adamant over Nile water

Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy warned on Saturdayhis country would resolutely tackle the Nile River water dossier, but it wouldcapitalize on all available diplomatic chances in this regard.Fahmy, who is accompanying an Egyptian cabinet delegation led by Prime MinisterIbrahim Mahlab to Equatorial Guinea, said dialogue, rather than confrontation, isthe right way to resolve differences over a controversial Ethiopian dam over theNile."Dialogue is the solution and there is no zero-sum game in a vital issue like the NileRiver water," he was quoted by Egypt's official news agency, MENA as saying.But, the minister regretted that his country had not yet received any practicalresponse from the Ethiopian side to serious negotiations over the issue.He noted that Uganda and Tanzania had suggested unofficial dialogue sessionsamong all Nile Basin countries to find a solution to the problem, but no concretesteps had been taken in this regard so far.Egypt is particularly dependent on water supply from the Nile, and its growingpopulation has been placing that supply under increasing strain.Ethiopia's underway Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is a USD-4.7-billion projectthat Ethiopia says will eventually provide 6,000 megawatts of power.The Egyptian prime minister is in Equatorial Guinea as part of an African tour thatalready taken him to Chad and Tanzania with a view to promoting Egyptian-Africanrelations.