Egypt's interim President Adly Mansour on Tuesday ordered four military planes carrying humanitarian aid to be sent to neighbouring flood-stricken Sudan. The four C-130 planes will carry relief material and survival rations. In a telephone call with Sudanese President Omar El-Bashir, Mansour said Egypt stands by "Sudan and its people at this difficult time." Mansour also told El-Bashir that Egypt supports all relief efforts in Sudan, presidential media advisor Ahmed El-Muslimani said. At least 36 people were killed on Sunday and 5,000 houses were destroyed under heavy rain and floods in a region north of Sudan's capital Khartoum. On Monday, Egyptian irrigation minister Mohamed Abd El-Motaleb said that Egypt has "given immediate orders for the Egyptian irrigation in Sudan to offer all of its technical and logistical capabilities to the Sudanese irrigation [ministry]." He added that the Nile water sector of the irrigation ministry is currently closely following the measurements of the Nile and its tributaries: the Blue Nile, White Nile and Al-Atbarah River. Some irrigation experts believe the threat of flooding in Sudan could be reduced in the future with the construction of the controversial Grand Renaissance Dam of Ethiopia. Ethiopian plans to build a $4.7 billion hydroelectric dam, for which it began diverting a stretch of the Blue Nile in May, have raised concerns in Egypt and Sudan - both dependent on the world's longest river for their water supply. The three countries are expected to meet by the end of August to discuss technical issues of the dam and its affect on the disputed Nile waters. Source : Ahram
