EGYPTIAN, AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENTS DISCUSS MIDEAST AFFAIRS

ITAR-TASS, Russia
May 7 2007

CAIRO, May 7 (Itar-Tass) – Cairo negotiations between Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham
Aliyev focused on the situation in the Middle East, the Caucasus and
Central Asia.

Aliyev arrived in Cairo on Sunday to pay a three-day working visit.

A representative of the Egyptian presidential secretariat said
the leaders discussed the situation in the Gulf in the light of a
confrontation between Iran and the West, the current state of affairs
in Iraq and Lebanon, the Palestinian-Israeli peace process and the
lift of blockade on Palestinian lands.

Karabakh was a separate item on the agenda. Egypt respects the
sovereignty of Azerbaijan and calls for a peaceful settlement of the
Karabakh conflict in conformity with international law and resolutions
of the UN Security Council and with support of the OSCE Minsk Group,
Mubarak said.

Aliyev invited Mubarak to pay an official visit in Azerbaijan.

On Monday Aliyev will meet with Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and
attend the signing of 12 cooperation agreements concerning agriculture,
trade, energy, tourism, sports, pharmaceutical industry, banking,
science and information.

It is planned to sign an agreement on Azerbaijani Airlines flights
between Baku and Sharm-el-Sheikh. Negotiations on Egypt Air regular
flights between Cairo and Baku are underway.

On Sunday Aliyev was received by the Grand Imam of the world largest
Islamic University Al-Azhar Dr. Muhammad Sayid Tantawy and opened a
new building of the Azerbaijani embassy in Cairo.

On Monday he will meet with People’s Assembly Chairman Ahmed Fathi
Sorour and Secretary General of the League of Arab States (LAS)
Amr Moussa.
From: Baghdasarian