Egyptian President El Sisi’s displeasure on show at Nile dam summit with Ethiopia – The National

Egyptian President El Sisi’s displeasure on show at Nile dam summit with Ethiopia – The National

Cairo is unhappy with Addis Ababa's plans to fill the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam it fears could impact its share of Nile water





























A radio operator at the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), near Guba in Ethiopia. AFP











Egyptian President Abdel Fatah El Sisi wore a stern, maybe even angry, look during a videoconference summit called to find a resolution for a decade-long dispute over an Ethiopian Nile dam Egypt fears could impact on its life-and-death share of the river's water.



The image of Mr El Sisi's apparent displeasure, released by his media office, also showed Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on television screens as he addressed the summit.



Hanging on the wall behind the Egyptian leader in a conference room was a framed Quranic verse often cited to comfort the faithful when in a predicament.



"With hardship there will be easiness,“ reads the verse depicted in calligraphy and perhaps summing up the mood of the Egyptian leader as he strives to defend what the pro-government media in Cairo calls Egypt's right to live against Ethiopia's intransigence and recklessness.



After nearly a decade