CAIRO: Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf departed on Wednesday for visits to Uganda and Ethiopia that will be dominated by the talks on sharing the Nile River, which has been at the centre of a dispute between Nile Basin countries.
Sharaf visits Kampala first and then Addis Ababa on Thursday night, the official MENA news agency reported.
He heads a large delegation including the foreign and electricity ministers.
Basin countries have demanded the revision of colonial-era agreements that give Egypt and Sudan most of the river’s water and allow Cairo to veto upstream projects on the river.
Egypt does not recognize an agreement between other basin countries that revised the treaties, but the government that replaced ousted president Hosni Mubarak in February has shown interest in resolving the dispute.
