Ethiopia's parliament unanimously ratified a treaty on Thursday that strips Egypt of its right to the lion's share of the Nile river waters, raising the political temperature in a dispute between Cairo and Addis Ababa over the construction of a dam.

 

Egypt, whose President Mohamed Mursi warned this week of the potential for conflict over the issue, said Ethiopia's move changed nothing and repeated its rejection of the treaty terms.

 

The Ethiopian parliament's move follows days of irate exchanges between two of Africa's most populous nations over Ethiopia's new hydroelectric plant, which Egypt fears will reduce a water supply vital for its 84 million people.

 

Mursi said on Monday he did not want "war" but would keep "all options open", prompting Ethiopia to say it was ready to defend its $4.7 billion Great Renaissance Dam near the border with Sudan. An aide to Mursi said on Thursday that there was a "high probability" of an eventual peaceful resolution.

 

Ethiopia and five other Nile basin countries - Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda - have now signed a deal effectively stripping Cairo of its veto, based on colonial-era treaties, over dam projects on the Nile, source of nearly all of Egypt's water.

 

Ethiopia's late leader Meles Zenawi had delayed parliamentary ratification until Egypt elected a new government.

 

Cairo said the move was not significant. "Ethiopia's ratification of the agreement does not change Egypt's official position of refusal of that agreement, as long as no understanding is reached on all the clauses that Egypt objected to," government spokesman Alaa el-Hadidi said in a statement.