Pro-Houthi MP Accuses Militias of Torturing Hodeidah Residents

UN vehicles on their way to Saleef port are seen at the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, Yemen May 11, 2019. REUTERS/Abduljabbar Zeyad
UN vehicles on their way to Saleef port are seen at the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, Yemen May 11, 2019. REUTERS/Abduljabbar Zeyad
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Pro-Houthi MP Accuses Militias of Torturing Hodeidah Residents

UN vehicles on their way to Saleef port are seen at the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, Yemen May 11, 2019. REUTERS/Abduljabbar Zeyad
UN vehicles on their way to Saleef port are seen at the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, Yemen May 11, 2019. REUTERS/Abduljabbar Zeyad

A pro-Houthi MP attacked the Iran-backed militias’ leadership during a meeting for deputies in Sanaa.

He accused it of intentionally torturing Hodeidah residents by not providing them with electricity to overcome summer season’s heat despite sufficient amount of fund available for that.

MP Abdu Bishr, who is known for opposing the group’s policies, said that its MPs have announced adding the prices of oil derivatives sold in areas that fall under the militias’ control to implement electricity project for Hodeidah’s residents, but these funds “seem to have lost their way to an unknown destination.”

Bishr called on Sanaa deputies, who are subject to the group, to take firm stances in order to know the fate of these funds, which are collected for Hodeidah’s electricity. He pointed out that these funds are being looted and seized by Houthi leaders.

Bishr was a minister in the coup government before he was ousted.

Houthis have attacked his home in Sanaa a few days ago and arrested two of his bodyguards.

Hodeidah residents told Asharq Al-Awsat that life is no longer bearable in the city due to summer heat and the lack of electricity. They said only Houthi leaders and their followers have access to electricity, which is being supplied for them for free.

Residents stressed that the militias have imposed huge sums on private generator owners, who sell electricity for people.

This has caused a hike in prices, preventing a number of people from access to their basic needs.



Egypt Says GERD Lacks Legally Binding Agreement

This grab taken from video shows Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, Ethiopia, Feb. 20, 2022. (AP Photo)
This grab taken from video shows Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, Ethiopia, Feb. 20, 2022. (AP Photo)
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Egypt Says GERD Lacks Legally Binding Agreement

This grab taken from video shows Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, Ethiopia, Feb. 20, 2022. (AP Photo)
This grab taken from video shows Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, Ethiopia, Feb. 20, 2022. (AP Photo)

Egypt said Friday that Ethiopia has consistently lacked the political will to reach a binding agreement on its now-complete dam, an issue that involves Nile River water rights and the interests of Egypt and Sudan.

Ethiopia’s prime minister said Thursday that the country’s power-generating dam, known as the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), on the Nile is now complete and that the government is “preparing for its official inauguration” in September.

Egypt has long opposed the construction of the dam, because it would reduce the country's share of Nile River waters, which it almost entirely relies on for agriculture and to serve its more than 100 million people.

The more than the $4 billion dam on the Blue Nile near the Sudan border began producing power in 2022. It’s expected to eventually produce more than 6,000 megawatts of electricity — double Ethiopia’s current output.

Ethiopia and Egypt have spent years trying to reach an agreement over the dam, which Ethiopia began building in 2011.

Both countries reached no deal despite negotiations over 13 years, and it remains unclear how much water Ethiopia will release downstream in case of a drought.

Egyptian officials, in a statement, called the completion of the dam “unlawful” and said that it violates international law, reflecting “an Ethiopian approach driven by an ideology that seeks to impose water hegemony” instead of equal partnership.

“Egypt firmly rejects Ethiopia’s continued policy of imposing a fait accompli through unilateral actions concerning the Nile River, which is an international shared watercourse,” Egypt’s Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation said in a statement Friday.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, in his address to lawmakers Thursday, said that his country “remains committed to ensuring that our growth does not come at the expense of our Egyptian and Sudanese brothers and sisters.”

“We believe in shared progress, shared energy, and shared water,” he said. “Prosperity for one should mean prosperity for all.”

However, the Egyptian water ministry said Friday that Ethiopian statements calling for continued negotiations “are merely superficial attempts to improve its image on the international stage.”

“Ethiopia’s positions, marked by evasion and retreat while pursuing unilateralism, are in clear contradiction with its declared willingness to negotiate,” the statement read.

However, Egypt is addressing its water needs by expanding agricultural wastewater treatment and improving irrigation systems, according to the ministry, while also bolstering cooperation with Nile Basin countries through backing development and water-related projects.