Saudi Arabian delegation visit to GERD sends tremors to Egypt and Eritrea

Tigrai Online, Ethiopian News, Dec. 18, 2016

A high level delegation visited Ethiopia shortly after an Ethiopian delegation led by the prime minister paid an official visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia a few weeks ago. The Saudi delegation included officials from the energy, finance and industry sectors in Saudi Arabia.

The visit by the Saudi Arabian delegation follows a high tension between Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Egypt and Saudi Arabia are fighting because their stands on the Syrian and Yemen wars.  Egypt has been having problems with the Western world since the so called “Arab Spring” revolution.  The Americans are hesitating to support Egypt due to the unstable political situation in the country and Egyptian influence in the Middle East eroded. The Egyptian government angered the Saudis last October when they voted to support the Syrian regime which backed by Iran and Russia against the rebels which in turn are supported by Saudi Arabia and the West.

So when the relationship between Egypt and Saudi Arabia goes from bad to worse, both countries are going out of their way to damage each other. Even though Saudi Arabia is the second biggest investor in Ethiopia, with investments totaling about US$3 billion, this recent diplomatic activities seem they are intended more for geopolitical benefit.

The Ethiopian foreign ministry said."The Saudi officials expressed their government's interest in developing and importing energy from Ethiopia."

The conflict between Egypt and Saudi Arabia and its allies might be temporary given the fact that they have more in common than their political differences, but curbing Iranian influence could be a huge motivator for the Saudis Arabians and their friends. Either way Egyptian government is in a panic mode regarding the visit of Saudi Arabian delegation to Ethiopia and the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in particular.

Many Middle Eastern including Egyptian news media outlets are saying the Saudis tentatively signed agreements with Ethiopia to buy power for themselves and help out Sudan and Yemen to buy electric power worth billions of dollars from Ethiopia. Time and history will tell If this becomes reality or temporary propaganda to win allies, one way or the other Ethiopia’s persistence and determination is paying off big time and it is putting it in a very strong position against its strategic arch enemies. Mohamed Nasreddin Allam Former Irrigation Minister of Egypt is quoted as saying the Saudi Arabian delegation visit to GERD as “a dangerous move which is an attempt to harm the interests of 92 million Egyptians and it constitutes an act of public intrigue”.

Mind you!!! wanting to establish your won country is something, but wanting to destroy other country is a totally another story. Who gave you the right to destroy our country? Oh!Yeah, these are the people Gim7 and the Gonder extremists were calling to establish a united front against the Ethiopian government while deporting the people of Tigrai from Gonder, Bahirdar, Metema, Debarik, and many other town in Amhara rgion and burning their houses and businesses.

When the elephants of the region fight the real damage will be to the countries used as a toilet wipe by the Egyptians. Should any war breakout in the Red Sea or the Horn of Africa because of this Ethiopia can hold its own and defend its interests, but would the governments who depend on Egyptian handout survive the onslaught?

The recent unrest supported by armed groups in Ethiopia was engineered by the Egyptians and executed by the Eritrean regime to stop the Ethiopian miraculous economic growth and transformation. The Ethiopian government has announced the leaders of the groups are charged with crimes against the people and the state. The group’s leaders were in direct contact with the Eritrean regime’s puppets in Asmara to carry out their evil mission including deporting over ten thousand Tigraisns from their own country. The same government publication disclosed an estimated 202 million Birr worth of businesses, government and private buildings, individual houses were destroyed the Eritrean sponsored thugs. Also many people lost their lives at the hands of the Egyptian and Eritrean supported groups. If anyone thinks the people and government are going to forget any time soon, they might think twice. At the appropriate time there will be a hefty price to be paid by those who did this to our country and people.

The Ethiopian government is playing their cards perfectly to ensure the peaceful completion of the GERD and the long term interest of the country.  Ethiopia needs a few more years to complete most of the mega project in all the sectors of its economy then it will be in a position to challenge any adversary including Egypt militarily or otherwise. 

Egyptians telling a group of Oromos to establish their own country.