(JT) The majority of countries in the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) are planning to sign a new Nile treaty on May 14 and have accused Egypt for stalling the agreement. After over ten years since the NBI was created, the Egyptian government today asked for more time to continue NBI negotiations while some Egyptian politicians have restarted a new round of “war of words” that resemble past threats from Cairo.

The center of the Nile crisis has been Egypt’s usage of over 80 percent of the Nile water resources even though 85 percent of the Nile comes from Ethiopia. The last five years, Kenya and Tanzania have been more outspoken in condemning Egypt's domination of the Nile, however, the focus of the issue remains between Egypt (the biggest beneficiary) and Ethiopia (the least beneficiary).

Despite Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's government recently taking a strong stance in favor of what could be a historic May 14 treaty signing, some Ethiopians believe Meles Zenawi's ruling party is spreading a pre-election propaganda to avoid criticism from the opposition before the upcoming May national election. Unlike the previous Ethiopian leader Mengistu (who stockpiled heavy weaponry and secretly planned a Nuclear weapons program to defend Ethiopia from Egyptian aggression), the current leader Meles Zenawi is accused by Ethiopians for being too soft on Egypt. Most Ethiopians resent Egypt's monopoly of the Nile which has contributed to underdevelopment, famines and numerous deaths in Ethiopia for many decades.

The last time Egypt and Ethiopia went to war was in the mid 1870s, which ended with the Battle of Gura. Will Egypt start another war with Ethiopia due to the Nile dispute?

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