HC Deb 19 November 1958 vol 595 cc1145-6
34. Mr. Wall

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what steps are being taken by Her Majesty's Government to secure international agreement on the use of the Nile waters.

Mr. Selwyn Lloyd

I have nothing to add to the reply which my right hon. Friend gave to the hon. Member for Bristol, South-East (Mr. Benn) on 23rd October.

Mr. Wall

Does not the report of the Soviet Government's offer regarding the Aswan Dam underline the importance of this issue? Cannot the Government take some initiative, perhaps with the United Nations, to call a conference with Egypt and the Sudan, and could not the East African territories also be represented?

Mr. Lloyd

We think that a conference about the Nile waters would be a good thing, but at the moment the positions of Egypt and the Sudan on this matter are so far apart that a conference might do more harm than good. We hope to get these two countries closer together, and we have said that we would willingly attend a conference, whether convened by one of the major users or by some international organisation.

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