(May 12, 2013, (The Trumpet))--The recent arrest of three Egyptian spies by Ethiopian security forces is the latest escalation in tensions over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (gerd).
Captured on May 5 in separate locations across the nation, the three Egyptian men stand accused of gathering intelligence on Ethiopia’s dam system. One man was arrested at the Abobo Dam, while the other two were arrested as they attempted to travel to the gerd. It is the latter of the two dams that is of greater significance.
The gerd is a massive hydroelectric dam being constructed on the headwaters of the Nile River in Ethiopia. It will be the largest dam in Africa, coming in at over 5,900 feet (1,800 meters) long, and it will have a capacity of over 2.6 billion gallons of water. More important than its size, this dam’s geopolitical significance is immense.
Egypt sees this dam as a direct threat to its own national stability. Almost 100 percent of Egypt’s 83 million inhabitants live on the banks of the north-flowing Nile. Egyptians see the gerd as the equivalent of a giant spigot that Ethiopia is capable of turning on and off at will. Read more from The Trumpet »
Captured on May 5 in separate locations across the nation, the three Egyptian men stand accused of gathering intelligence on Ethiopia’s dam system. One man was arrested at the Abobo Dam, while the other two were arrested as they attempted to travel to the gerd. It is the latter of the two dams that is of greater significance.
The gerd is a massive hydroelectric dam being constructed on the headwaters of the Nile River in Ethiopia. It will be the largest dam in Africa, coming in at over 5,900 feet (1,800 meters) long, and it will have a capacity of over 2.6 billion gallons of water. More important than its size, this dam’s geopolitical significance is immense.
Egypt sees this dam as a direct threat to its own national stability. Almost 100 percent of Egypt’s 83 million inhabitants live on the banks of the north-flowing Nile. Egyptians see the gerd as the equivalent of a giant spigot that Ethiopia is capable of turning on and off at will. Read more from The Trumpet »
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