Egypt has expressed hope that things become stable in Ethiopia as the latter has been witnessing weeks of clashes between protesters and security that has so far left 75 dead according to Human Rights Watch.
“That is an Ethiopian domestic affair and Egypt is looking forward to the situation stabilizing and a resumption economic and social development in Ethiopia,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid said in a statement on Monday. “Ethiopia is a big and important African country, and its stability emboldens the continent’s interests, including Egypt’s."
Clashes broke out in November as students from the Oromia region protested government plans to seize lands belonging to the country’s largest ethnic group. The land is being sold to companies from foreign countries for cultivation.
"Police and military forces have fired on demonstrators, killing at least 75 protesters and wounding many others, according to activists," said HRW.
Egypt and Ethiopia are currently locked in a standoff over Addis Ababa’s Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam which Egypt fears would diminish its historical share of Nile River waters. The latest round of talks between both countries over technical issues related to the undertaking have been labeled a failure.
