Qatar’s 'Dirty game' behind Renaissance dam

CAIRO – 26 July 2017: “Dirty game” between Qatar and Addis Ababa behind the building of Sadd Al-Nahda (Renaissance Dam), according to a video published in Al Bayan newspaper official website.

The video, published and produced by Al Bayan newspaper, stated that after breaking diplomatic ties with Qatar for six years, Amir Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani strangely paid a visit to Ethiopia in April 2017.

This visit came three months before the scheduled date to end the building of the Renaissance Dam. It was the first time for the Emir to visit Ethiopia since he took power in 2013.

The Dubai-based al-Bayan newspaper mentioned that Qatar pumped investments to fund the building of the Renaissance Dam and economic cooperation agreements were signed between Addis Ababa and Qatar.

A million and 200 thousand acres of Ethiopian lands around the dam were cultivated funded by Qatari money, Al-Bayan stated.

The video stated that the Qatari investment in Ethiopia was estimated at $5.8 billion and showed snapshots of the Qatari Emir among Ethiopian intelligence officers.
The widespread UAE newspaper concluded these facts with proof that Qatar was the hidden player behind the building of the Renaissance Dam in another war against Egypt. They went on to call it the “Water War”.

The construction of the dam chilled relations between Addis Ababa and Cairo. Egypt said the construction would affect its share of Nile water, whereas Ethiopia has claimed the dam is necessary for its development. But in a move some have seen as a thaw, both states, along with Sudan, agreed to the tripartite talks that started in August 2014. The three countries signed an agreement on the Renaissance Dam to guarantee Egypt’s share of 55 billion cubic meters of the Nile water.

The filling process in the dam is abound to the Declaration of Principles signed in March 2015 including the cooperation of the three countries – Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan – to deploy the final output of joint studies in order to settle on the guidelines and rules for the first filling of the dam as well as the annual operating rules.

Constructions in the Grand Renaissance Dam started on April 2, 2011 at a cost of $4.8 billion. It is built by the Italian constructions and engineering company Sallini Impregilo headquartered in Milan.

In early June 2017, several countries, including Egypt, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, severed diplomatic ties with Doha over accusations of Qatar backing and funding terrorist groups.