"A Ridiculous Fallacy".. Alaa Mubarak Responds to Ethiopian Minister's Comparison Between the High Dam and the Renaissance Dam

- Alaa Mubarak, the son of former Egyptian President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak, responded on Saturday evening to statements made by Ethiopian Water Minister Habtamu Itefa, who claimed that the High Dam in Egypt was built without Ethiopia's approval and "caused social unrest." Alaa Mubarak stated in a post on his official account on the platform "X" on Saturday: "It is something extremely strange; the upstream country asks the downstream country to explain the construction of the High Dam without its approval!!"

The son of the late Egyptian president added: "The issue of using the 'High Dam' as a pretext or a tool for comparison by some voices in the upstream country either shows a blatant ignorance of the geographical nature of the river or a failed attempt to justify the lack of commitment to the agreements and laws that regulate the movement of rivers," as he expressed. Alaa Mubarak continued in his post: "The obvious and natural thing for the Nile River is to flow from the south (upstream) to the north (downstream), due to gravity and the laws of physics, and based on this scientific obviousness, which children in early school stages understand, the claim by the upstream country that Egypt should have sought its permission to build the High Dam is an utterly foolish fallacy."

Ethiopian Minister of Water and Energy, Habtamu Itefa, spoke on Saturday about the High Dam built by Egypt on the Nile River in Aswan, southern Egypt, claiming that the project was implemented "without Ethiopia's approval," unlike the Renaissance Dam, which was built based on the Declaration of Principles agreement signed between Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia in 2015, according to the Ethiopian official news agency "ENA." The minister claimed that the historical legacy of the High Dam and its construction "caused widespread social unrest."

The minister described the "High Dam in Aswan as one of the most impactful giant dam projects in Africa." He stated: "Ethiopia has a sovereign right to develop and use its water resources in the Nile River based on the principle of equitable and reasonable use," rejecting calls for Ethiopia to obtain prior approval from the downstream countries for its water resource development projects, according to what was reported by the "ENA" agency.

Habtamu added that "the Renaissance Dam is subject to a newer regional framework, represented in the Declaration of Principles of 2015, which was signed by Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt," as reported by the official Ethiopian news agency. The issue of the Renaissance Dam remains one of the most prominent points of contention between Egypt and Sudan on one side and Ethiopia on the other, as Cairo and Khartoum insist on the necessity of considering the rights of the downstream countries and not taking any unilateral actions that could harm their water interests.