Mohammad Zyud, a leading member of the Islamic Action Front (IAF), the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, also urged authorities to rethink the project, which could pave the way for "normalisation with the enemy", according to an IAF statement published on Wednesday.

"The project will serve the interests of Zionism and increase the volume of foreign debt on the Kingdom," he said.

Zyud warned that agreements with Israel could only harm the Kingdom.

"History proved that joint projects with Israel only serve the enemy's interest. We learnt that peace accords only attract disasters on us," he added.

The IAF activist believes the ideal solution for Jordan's chronic water shortage is to pump water from the Red Sea port of Aqaba to the Dead Sea through a pipeline that could supply desalination plants on the route.

He also urged Arab and international institutions to help the Kingdom better utilise its existing water resources.

Meanwhile, Jordan Geologists Association President Bahjat Odwan gave his full support to the project, describing it as an "integral process" to resolve the Kingdom's severe water shortage.

Odwan dismissed Zyud's suggestion that the project was politically motivated to spur normalisation with Israel.

"The project serves the country's higher interests by saving the Dead Sea and providing citizens with water to drink," the statement quoted him as saying.

A feasibility study and environmental assessment are currently being implemented to examine the impact of the Red-Dead canal project on the Gulf of Aqaba and the Dead Sea.

The project is part of international efforts to save the Dead Sea, which has been shrinking at the rate of one metre per year, largely due to the diversion of water from the Jordan River for agricultural and industrial use.

Studies indicate that it has plunged more than 30 metres over the past two decades alone, with experts warning that it could dry up within the next 50 years.

The project seeks to pump one billion cubic metres of water annually with the aim of raising the water level in the shrinking lake from 408 metres to 315 metres below sea level.

By Mohammad Ben Hussein

© Jordan Times 2009

 

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