Former Egyptian commander: Striking Ethiopia dam 'impossible'

May 30, 2013 | Egypt Independent

General Mohamed Ali Bilal, commander of Egyptian forces during the Gulf war, said that it is “impossible” to strike the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam because such a decision would be issuing a challenge to the entire world.

Bilal told al-Arabiya satellite channel on Wednesday that such an attack would bring Egypt into conflict with those countries, such as China and Israel, whose citizens are involved in the construction of the dam. Egypt is not in a position to stand up to all those countries, he added.

He also said that, when the US launched Desert Storm and invaded Kuwait, it did so under the auspices of the UN. Besides, he added, there seems to be international consensus that Ethiopia has the right to build the dam.

He emphasized that the US had planned its construction and that Israel is providing technical support. In Bilal’s view, the only way to tackle the crisis is to persuade the US to intervene on Egypt's behalf and convince the Ethiopians to mitigate the impact construction of the dam will have.

Major General Ahmed Abdel Halim, a security and strategic expert, said that a diplomatic solution is the best way of handling this issue, while adding that striking the dam would not bring the aspired results.

He also said that, as a last resort, Egypt could present its case to the International Court of Justice, the Security Council, and the International Criminal Court.