France24, France
April 14 2006
Egypt and Armenia discuss Iran’s nuclear programme
Send by e-mail Save Print Armenian President Robert Kocharian and
President Hosni Mubarak discussed Iran’s controversial nuclear
programme in Cairo on Saturday.
"Their talks covered the Iranian nuclear issue, developments in the
region and the Gulf. Armenia is particularly interested in the
nuclear file since it shares its southern frontier with Iran,"
Suleiman Awad told journalists.
Iran says its uranium enrichment programme is for peaceful civilian
purposes, but Western states suspect it may be used to develop a
nuclear bomb, and have slapped sanctions on Tehran in a bid to get it
to halt the project.
"Iraq also featured in the discussions, which covered regional
problems in Central Asia, particularly the conflict between Armenia
and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh," Awad said.
During Kocharian’s three-day visit, the interior ministers of both
countries are expected to sign accords on organised crime, judicial
cooperation and customs.
On Sunday, Kocharian will meet the Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar, Mohammed
Sayyed Tantawi, one of the most prominent figures in Sunni Islam.
Once home to a massive Armenian community, Egypt has close historical
ties with Armenia — in 1878, Armenian Nubar Pasha became the
country’s first prime minister.
In the 1940s some 40,000 Armenians lived in Egypt, mostly in Cairo
and Alexandria, although many left in the 1960s with the rise of
Egyptian nationalism and more socialist laws that hit Armenian
businesses.
Today some 8,000 people of Armenian origin live in Egypt, according
to the community’s website.
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