The Nile Council of Ministers is meeting in Arusha, Tanzania on Thursday to discuss financial problems facing the Nile Basin Initiative, as international funding will cease end of June due to differences among the member states over the Entebbe agreement and the downstream countries of Egypt and Sudan.
Sources said Egypt has rejected pressures from the Nile Basin countries and insisted on maintaining its position in accordance with international laws governing common rivers.
Irrigation Minister Hossam Maghazy said in a press statement on Tuesday that Egypt will participate in the meeting after an absence of five years, adding that Egypt will present proposals for resolving disputes without harming the interests of any member state, including Egypt’s historical rights to Nile water.
“Sudan, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Ethiopia want Egypt to return to the initiative,” he said, adding that changes to the Egyptian domestic and regional arena require a reconsideration of positions a reunification of the Nile Basin countries.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
