Dam Detonation Discussion over Diplomatic Dispute Draws Denouncement in Addis

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Saturday condemned United States President Donald Trump after the president appeared to threaten Ethiopia of potential violence if it would not advance in ongoing crucial regional negotiations. In his conversation on Friday with Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, Trump remarked that if Ethiopia would not settle its dispute with Sudan and Egypt over the construction of a massive dam across the Blue Nile, Egypt would be forced to “blow up that dam.” In response, Addis Ababa summoned the US ambassador to clarify the inflammatory comments, which Ahmed referred to as “belligerent threats to have Ethiopia succumb to unfair terms.” Over the past several years, Ethiopia has persisted in building the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, meant to lift millions of citizens out of poverty and end devastating energy shortages. Neighboring Egypt and Sudan, meanwhile, have complained that the mammoth structure threatens their freshwater supply and may cause famine and economic calamities. Though tensions have at times risen dangerously high in recent years, all sides have repeatedly agreed to solve the dispute over water flow through diplomatic channels.