Egypt and Sudan Wednesday have urged other Nile Basin countries to approve the creation of a commission for the ten nations overlooking the longest river in the world with the aim of boosting co-operation between them after a deep rift over a water-sharing pact. "President Hosni Mubarak and his Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Bashir sent messages to presidents of the other Nile Basin countries urging them to approve a joint commission," the official Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported Wednesday. It added that the leaders of these nations would reply to the Egyptian-Sudanese call as soon as possible. Ministers of Water Resources and Irrigation of the Nile Basin countries failed to resolve differences on the remaining points, which hinder agreement on the Nile River co-operative framework such as water security and pre-notification. The seven riparian countries of the Nile, meanwhile, said they had agreed to sign a treaty without the approval of Egypt and Sudan on May 14. Egypt's Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohamed Nasreddin Allam stressed that the Egyptian stance towards the River Nile water, and its negotiations had always been based on the win-win policy, preservation of historical rights of Egypt and current uses of water and even work to increase its share of water from the Nile after implementation of joint projects with the riparian states. "A higher commission for the Nile Basin with the aim of attracting investments for encouraging development in the Basin States is suggested. And we urge all to join it," Allam said. The Nile Basin countries are Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Congo, Eritrea, Rwanda and Burundi. The Nile Basin countries have failed for years now to agree on the Nile River Co-operative Framework Agreement to administer the longest river in the world, which would reduce Egypt's share of the Nile water. Egypt has categorically refused to sign the agreement. Ahead of the discussions, however, Allam insisted that Egypt would maintain its share of 55.5 billion cubic metres of water from the river — more than half of the Nile's flow. Egypt also wants veto power over any new irrigation projects undertaken by the other nine riparian states. The Sub-Saharan African countries have rejected the clause and called for the signing of the agreement. Egypt's claim to Nile water is based on a 1929 agreement between Egypt and Great Britain on behalf of Britain's colonies which gave Egypt the right to most of the more than 100 billion cubic meters of water that reaches the downstream countries annually.
