CAIRO, May 24 (UPI) -- Cairo is interested in conservation along the Nile river basin, the Egyptian president said during talks with Kenyan officials in Cairo.
Egypt and Sudan, under treaties dating to 1929, control 87 percent of the water in the Nile and have veto power over upstream activities. Other African countries in the river basin say the treaties are obsolete, maintaining they have more water rights since gaining independence.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said he would help Kenya and other countries preserve water levels in the African great lakes at the source of the Nile, Kenya's Daily Nation newspaper reports.
Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga said Kenya was "invested heavily" in conservation maters.
The signatories to a framework for the Nile -- Rwanda, Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania -- gave Egypt and Sudan one year to sign on to the new treaty, the Nile Basin Cooperative Framework.
Mubarak said his country was prepared to help Kenya with water towers and other advancements. The official Egypt State Information Service notes that government officials in Cairo feel Egyptian rights to the water are untouchable and will be defended strongly.
