ADDIS ABABA, April 1 (Xinhua) -- Nine riparian countries on Saturday agreed to set up a permanent commission to coordinate the use of transboundary water resource from the Nile River basin.

    The Nile River Basin Commission, which will act as an executive body on behalf of member states, will be based in Kampala, capital of Uganda, said an agreement reached here at the end of a two-day extraordinary meeting of the Nile council of ministers.

    The agreement, known as the Nile River basin agreement, was signed by water ministers of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Republic of Congo, Sudan and Tanzania after years of tough negotiations.

    Any issue concerning the use of the Nile, including lakes of the riparian countries, will from now be based on the new agreement, it said.

    During the two-day meeting, the ministers underscored cooperation as a key factor in resolving any contentious issue on the use of transboundary water resource.

    Eritrea was the only Nile riparian country who was absent at the council's meeting. Enditem