ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopia on Saturday accused Donald Trump of inciting “war” over a massive Nile River mega-dam after the US president spoke out against the project and suggested Egypt might destroy it.

Foreign Minister Gedu Andargachew summoned US ambassador Michael Raynor to clarify Trump’s comments, which mark the US president’s latest foray into a delicate, long-running dispute between Ethiopia and downstream neighbours Egypt and Sudan.

Gedu told Raynor that “the incitement of war between Ethiopia and Egypt by a sitting US president neither reflects the long-standing partnership and strategic alliance between Ethiopia and the United States, nor is acceptable in international law governing interstate relations,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2020