CAIRO — Secretary-General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit transmitted a warning from the league to Ethiopia during the opening session of the fourth Arab Water Forum Nov. 26, saying, “Water security for Egypt — the biggest Arab country in terms of population — is part and parcel of the Arab national security.”

After announcing, on Nov. 12, the failure of negotiations to resolve the Renaissance Dam crisis with Ethiopia and Sudan, Egypt is now taking several measures to internationalize the Nile River quota crisis. Egypt mainly wants to establish an international coalition for the downstream countries harmed by the dam projects conducted by upstream countries. The measure was proposed during the Arab Water Forum, which was organized by the Arab Water Council and held in Cairo on Nov. 26-28, under the umbrella of the Arab League and in coordination with the Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation.

Egyptian and Arab officials talked about the internationalization of the Renaissance Dam issue on the sidelines of the Arab Water Forum.

Saudi Prince Khalid bin Sultan, the honorary president of the Arab Water Council, called for holding a water summit to face water piracy and terrorism. He said in his speech, “Water terrorism is as dangerous as any other kind of terrorism. We have to be armed with all methods to fight it.” He added that a force is needed to prevent water extortion.