Ethiopia has dismissed Egyptian talk of military action against a giant dam it is building on the Nile as "psychological warfare".

Dina Mufti, Ethiopia's foreign ministry spokesman, said on Tuesday that his country was "not intimidated by Egypt's psychological warfare and won't halt the dam's construction, even for seconds." 

Responding to a speech a day earlier by Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi, in which he said Egypt did not want "war" but would keep "all options open" to avoid losing any water, Mufti said the project would not be distracted by their neighbours.

Asked if Addis Ababa was looking at measures to defend the Ethiopian Grand Renaissance Dam, Dina said: "No country operates without precautions, let alone Ethiopia, which has a track record of defending its independence from all forces of evil."

Some politicians were caught on camera last week talking of air strikes or backing Ethiopian rebels after the start of major new work on the project took Cairo by surprise late last month.

Egypt's foreign minister, who has said he will give up "not a single drop of water", is to visit Addis Ababa.

Morsi hoped for a political solution with Ethiopia, a "friendly state", whose demands for economic development he said he understood.

One bone of contention is a technical analysis of the impact of the $4.7bn dam being built by an Italian firm on the Blue Nile near the border with Sudan, which supports the plan.

From Al Jazeera