Neither Syria nor Lebanon should be allowed to develop into a new focus of tension in the Middle East, Egypt's foreign minister said Wednesday. "We have a difficult situation in Iraq and in the Palestinian territory," Ahmed Aboul Gheit said. "We cannot allow another hotspot of tension to develop. "Regarding the Palestinian problem, it has been a hot spot for 60 years already. You can add the situation in Iraq to that problem," he added. "We have to relieve this tension at some point because the Middle East needs stability, development and peace ...stability and peace will naturally lead to a change in the relationship of the Islamic Arabic world with the West." Aboul Gheit's meetings with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and other officials in the Russian capital were expected to focus on the Middle East peace process, the situation in Iraq and the prospect of U.N. sanctions against Syria, which has long been allied with Russia. Aboul Gheit denied that his country was mediating between Damascus and Washington. Instead, he said, Egypt was offering analysis and advice in order to prevent new tensions in the Middle East. He was cautious about developments in Iraq. "The political process in Iraq is proceeding, but all kinds of violent acts are interfering with its normal course," Aboul Gheit was quoted as saying by The Associated Press. He added that it was important that a "normal, independent" government be established in Iraq, and said that foreign troops must be withdrawn.
