Egypt urges UN to stop Ethiopia filling Nile dam

Egypt accused Ethiopia of "warmongering" on Sunday in an escalating dispute over Ethiopia's plan to start filling a massive newly-built hydroelectric dam on the River Nile. In an interview with the Associated Press, Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry accused Ethiopian officials of stoking antagonism between the two countries.

He was responding to comments from his Ethiopian counterpart Gedu Andargachew who said - in an AP interview on Friday - that Ethiopia would begin filling the dam next month, whether or not Egypt agrees.

Egypt, which relies on the Nile for more than 90% of its water supplies, sees the issue as a potentially existential threat.

Cairo wants the UN security council to intervene, after the failure of negotiations to agree a deal on how the dam should be operated.

Hanging over the dispute has been the fear it could escalate into military conflict.

In Friday's interview, Andargachew said what the Egyptians were doing was disproportionate, "even for the sake of propaganda, let alone for going to war and conflict".

Shoukry countered that Egypt had never threatened military action.

"Unlike my Ethiopian colleague, Egypt has never, never over the past six years even made an indirect reference to such possibilities," he said.

"We find it strange that in his recent comments with the Associated Press he might speak about desire for war or warmongering, which I believe is inappropriate and is not the right tone to use," Shoukry added.