Xinhua General News Service, China
May 5, 2007 Saturday 12:00 PM EST
Egyptian, Azerbaijani Presidents probe regional situation, bilateral
relation
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Sunday held here a closed session
of talks on regional and bilateral relations with visiting
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev at Heliopolis presidential palace.
The talks between Mubarak and Aliev focused on ongoing efforts to
activate the peace process on the Palestinian-Israeli track, lift the
blockade imposed on the Palestinian people and ease their sufferings,
Egyptian Presidential Spokesman Suleiman Awad said.
The situation in Iraq, Lebanon and the Gulf region, as well as the
repercussions of the Iran-West confrontation on the Iranian nuclear
issue, were also included in the talks agenda, Awad added.
Meanwhile, the two leaders discussed the situation in the Caucasus,
including the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the
Nagorno Karabakh region, and Mubarak said Egypt always supports
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.
On bilateral relations, Mubarak and Aliev expressed their common
wishes to promote bilateral cooperation in the fields of trade,
energy and investment, according to the spokesman.
The two sides are expected to sign nine cooperation agreements which
would cover such domains as agricultural, economic, scientific,
information technology, energy, money transfer, youth, sports and
tourism, according to Awad.
Aliev, who arrived here on Sunday morning on a three-day visit, was
also scheduled to meet Fathi Sorour, the Egyptian People’s Assembly
(lower house of parliament) speaker, on bilateral parliamentary
relations.