President Hosni Mubarak welcomed yesterday Javier Solana, the EU top coordinator for security matters and foreign relations, who is currently visiting Cairo as part of his tour in the Middle East. Solana also met with Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit yesterday morning and the latter said they had mainly discussed the awaited US proposals and the efforts to settle the inter-Palestinian disputes. Speaking at a joint press conference with Solana, Aboul Gheit said their consultations had been very useful and constructive and that they talked about peace efforts and US President Obama's visit and his speech to the Islamic world. He also said they analyzed the elections in Lebanon, the situation in the Middle East, the elections in Iran and Tehran's nuclear program, as President Obama is concerned with this issue after being entrusted with it by the P5+1. Aboul Gheit was asked a question about some people's call for an Egyptian-Iranian dialogue. We had such a dialogue from 2005 to 2007, but it didn't lead to the results we hoped for, he answered. Aboul Gheit said Egypt thinks Iran must change its performance regarding the region's problems so that an open dialogue between the two countries can kick off. He also pointed out that this does not prevent the presence of diplomatic missions in Cairo and Tehran and does not prevent Egypt from assuming a clear stance on the Iranian nuclear program. Egypt thinks Iran has the right to use atomic energy peacefully, as this is a right enshrined in the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Indeed, the NPT allows the countries wishing to get nuclear energy for peaceful purposes to take this path, said Aboul Gheit. He also affirmed, though, that Egypt is convinced that the Middle East must be free of weapons of mass destruction. Solana was asked whether the relevance of the Iranian elections had been precisely analyzed. He said, though, that it was too early to make any analysis, as the Iranina elections had been held just 24 hours before. Generally speaking, though, our position has not changed: we don't want Iran to have nuclear weapons, Solana added. We'll be ready to cooperate with Tehran in producing the energy it wants, but we won't accept nuclear weapons, he went on to say. He then pointed out that Iran has not yet responded to the offer made by the U.S. He also said the talks touched on the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech yesterday evening. At the press conference, Aboul Gheit said the European stance was largely in line with the Egyptian view. He also pointed out that he had explained once more Egypt's view with regard to the need not only to have a road map, but also to reach the end of that road. There needs to be a proposal which is abided by and touches on all the aspects of the problem, and the Israelis and the Palestinians must start negotiating on this proposal under the auspices of the International Quartet, a conference or an enlarged group, Aboul Gheit said. He also affirmed that the two parties could not be left negotiating alone, as this would mean going back to 10 or 20 years ago. For his part, Solana said that his current tour in the region was about trying to find a settlement in light of the current chances and the latest developments in the region.
