Abdullah holds talks with Egyptian counterpart

Abu Dhabi: Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Foreign Minister, held talks on Saturday evening with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu Al Geit at the Emirates Palace here.

Shaikh Abdullah reiterated the keenness of President His Highness Saikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on distinguished relations between the two sisterly countries and ways to further enhance them.

He added that the UAE-Egyptian relations enjoy the support of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai and General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.

For his part, Abu Al Geit lauded the distinguished bilateral relations between the UAE and Egypt, and stressed the importance of exchange of visits between both nations' officials, which has contributed to boosting cooperation and integration between the two countries.

The two officials discussed bilateral relations, especially bilateral trade , which has touched $1.4billion and mutual investment which reached $3.4billion. The UAE is the third largest investor in Egypt.

The Egyptian community in the UAE has reached 251, 000.

The political consultations between the two countries include joint cooperation to assist some Arab and African countries.

They also discussed the regional and international issues, particularly the current situation in the region, peace process in the Middle East and backing of the Egyptian efforts to boost the Palestinian solidarity, as well as Egyptian efforts in Sudan and coordination in the regional and international organisations.

The first sessions of the political consultations were held in Abu Dhabi on July 21, 2008, in which two Memoranda of Understanding were signed on the political consultations between the foreign ministries in both countries and mutual entry visa for holders of diplomatic passports and those on special and important missions.

The Egyptian official described the Egyptian-UAE ties as excellent and historic due to the wise directives of the leadership in the two countries.

He added in a statement  on Saturday, "There are no worries about the economic ties between the two countries and the UAE investments are successful in Egypt", indicating that he discussed with senior UAE officials the relations between the two sisterly countries. He emphasised that the UAE has strong relations with Egypt.

Abu Al Geit underlined that Egypt backs the UAE in its demands of three Islands occupied by Iran: Tunb Greater, Tunb Lesser and Abu Mousa.
 
The official stressed that the Gulf region is vital to Egypt, adding that Egypt and UAE and other Arab countries "represent Arab depth". He added that there were joint committees among the Arab countries on coordination and cooperation.

On Egyptian-Saudi relations, Abu Al Geit said "our relations with Saudi Arabia are excellent and strong. We support brothers in Saudi Arabia and Yemen to deal with dangers in the region. "Egypt fully supports them and hopes the crisis will come to an end soon".

The Egyptian official said that "we have discussed the Iranian nuclear file and stressed the region should be not exposed to miscalculation that could affect the Gulf region. We call on Iran to pay attention to potential dangers in the region and heed the international vision to settle the nuclear file amicably without confrontation with West".

Abu Al Geit noted that there was no dialogue at the moment between Egypt and Iran, but there were quiet ties between the two countries.

On the Palestinian issue, the Egyptian FM said "we are seeking to bring the Palestinians together to build wider unified Palestinian front capable of confronting Israel. Coming days will witness more active Egyptian efforts to reconcile the Palestinian factions."

On Egyptian- Algerian ties, he said "we hope Egyptian Ambassador will return to Algiers soon and we are trying to pacify the relations in regard to media", adding that "we will demand compensation in the light of sabotage and damages to the companies in Algiers. The Egyptian government will back the demands".