Egypt Ready For War Over Ethiopia Nile Dam Plans.

Egypt is not ruling out military action against a controversial dam being built along the Nile River in Ethiopia, but says it wants to explore diplomatic channels to resolve the dispute. On Monday, senior Egyptian politicians were caught on camera discussing whether to destroy the dam which, they say, could threaten Egypt's existence. Now, President Mohammed Morsi's foreign policy adviser, Essam Al Haddad, has told the press: "It would not be totally acceptable to talk about the military option if you did not explore other options." However, Dr Haddad went on to say: "It is a matter of life for Egypt. We cannot live without the Nile, it is a bloodline for us ... there is no right for one society to develop something which harms another society."

Ethiopia set the alarm bells ringing in Cairo last week when it began diverting a stretch of the river to make way for a $7bn (£4.5bn) hydroelectric plant. The waters of the Nile have been argued over for decades and analysts have repeatedly warned that the disputes could result in war. This week, several high level Egyptian politicians, unaware that TV cameras were still broadcasting their comments live, discussed what to do about the Ethiopian action. The leader of Egypt's Ghad party, Ayman Nour, suggested leaking false reports that Egypt was building up its air power; the leader of the Salafist party even suggested bombing the dam.

Now, Dr Haddad has said: "No official (from government) has been saying this. You are talking about a meeting of political figures from all the spectrum of Egyptian politics. This does not mean it is an official stance; to the contrary, we go through the legal proceedings and the political and diplomatic channels. We are willing to share our burden of building the dam, provided the studies are robust enough to make sure they are not affecting the environment or the water resources, the quality and quantity of water reaching our territory."

Earlier, Mr Morsi's political adviser told the state news agency Mena: "Demanding that Ethiopia stop construction of the dam in plans to build in the Blue Nile will be our first step." Another adviser said: "All options are open."

The centrepiece of Ethiopia's plan to dominate control of the Nile waters is the Grand Renaissance Dam in the region bordering Sudan. It is 21% completed and, when finished, the Ethiopian government says it should have a 6,000 megawatt capacity, equivalent to six nuclear power stations.
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