ADDIS ABABA: The recent prisoner release of rebels by the Ethiopian government could have been a move by the government to ensure their Grand Renaissance Dam project was not at risk, some analysts are telling Bikyanews.com. According to them, the Benshangul Peoples Liberation Movement (BPLM) guerrillas operated from camps in Sudan, though Sudan has denied any support of the group. Nile River water politics may have played a role in the peace deal and subsequent prisoner release, one analyst said. "Ethiopia cannot afford to lose the dam project and needs to make certain that it is safe, especially with the close ties the BPML had with Sudan," he argued. The BPLM had previously threatened to attack Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance Dam project on the Blue Nile River. The dam site is in Benishangul-Gumuz. After the peace deal was signed, a BPLM faction claimed that it rejected the peace agreement. The Benishangul people are also called the Berta and about 180,000 live in Ethiopia. The government here in Addis Ababa has denied any prisoner release with shoring up its dam prospects, saying instead that it was a move to help push the peace process forward and make it clear that if a group lays down its weapons, Ethiopia is ready to move forward. Still, with the ongoing tension of the Nile River and its water constantly an issue, especially vis-a-vis Egypt and Sudan, the move has raised some eyebrows. One Sudanese embassy official here told Bikyanews.com that he did not believe the release was connected with the Nile politics, but was not willing to disregard it altogether, adding that the future of Ethiopian and Sudanese relations depends "largely on the water issue." As the analyst argued, "we may never know for sure what precipitated the release of the prisoners, but it is clear that for now, the dam project remains safe and without fear of being attacked," a reference to Wikileaks information released late last year stating Egypt was looking, via Sudan, to bomb the dam and shore up its lion's share of a colonial treaty for Nile water rights. BN
