(July 15, 2012, CAIRO)--Egypt's newly elected President Mohammed Morsi flew to
Ethiopia on Sunday to attend an African Union summit in an attempt to
rekindle Cairo's relations with the continent after years of neglect
under his predecessor Hosni Mubarak.
Morsi, who visited Saudi Arabia last week on his first official trip
abroad since taking office, will be the first Egyptian leader to attend
an African summit since 1995, when Mubarak, who was ousted in last
year's popular uprising, survived an assassination attempt en route to
one in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa. The attack was blamed on Muslim
militants.
Under Mubarak, Egypt's foreign policy primarily focused on the country's chief donors -- the U.S., Western Europe and Gulf Arab states led by Saudi Arabia. As a result, Cairo's relations with its African neighbors deteriorated.
Morsi's attendance at the summit has been touted as an attempt by the Islamist leader to improve relations with Nile basin nations, some of which are frustrated with what they see as Egypt's disproportionately large share of the river's waters under an agreement reached in 1959 when much of the region was still under colonial rule.
Ethiopia is home to the source of the Blue Nile, which flows downstream to Sudan and then farther north to Egypt. The Blue Nile contributes the majority of the river's water from the point it meets the White Nile outside Khartoum, the Sudanese capital, and all the way north of Egypt's Mediterranean coast. Read more from CTV »
Related topic:
Morsy to visit Addis Ababa to discuss Nile water agreements
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| Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Sunday, July 15, 2012. (AP /Elias Asmare) |
Under Mubarak, Egypt's foreign policy primarily focused on the country's chief donors -- the U.S., Western Europe and Gulf Arab states led by Saudi Arabia. As a result, Cairo's relations with its African neighbors deteriorated.
Morsi's attendance at the summit has been touted as an attempt by the Islamist leader to improve relations with Nile basin nations, some of which are frustrated with what they see as Egypt's disproportionately large share of the river's waters under an agreement reached in 1959 when much of the region was still under colonial rule.
Ethiopia is home to the source of the Blue Nile, which flows downstream to Sudan and then farther north to Egypt. The Blue Nile contributes the majority of the river's water from the point it meets the White Nile outside Khartoum, the Sudanese capital, and all the way north of Egypt's Mediterranean coast. Read more from CTV »
Related topic:
Morsy to visit Addis Ababa to discuss Nile water agreements
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