Now, with countries to the south demanding the right to take more water from the Nile, somecommentators are saying Egypt cannot expect to have a monopoly on the river and might need to adapt to a future with a smaller share of the flow. I met up with an Egyptian politian Mona M*. -Has Egypt taken the Nile for granted?

-I guess so, for a very long time. Nobody has asked. Nobdy, many of the population here doesn't know that other people too are sharing the Nile waters. Unless you are educated, it is not the case for a lot of people. 40 percent of the people are illiterate. So I think you are right in a way. Egyptians have taken the Nile for granted for the long time. Now they have to wake up.

-So what does that mean for Egypt today in the 21st century, when countries to the south are starting to build giant dams and they will have the power to turn off the trumps.

-Some of these countries were at the source of the Nile. I think that it is their right to have more of part of the Nile than they had up till now. I think that we need people who understand what experts on the Nile to see what would be the equitable distribution. -Who owns the Nile?

-Who owns the Gandhi?

-The Indians would say they do. -The Egpytian will say the same thing.