Egypt and Iran have a big role to play in mobilizing Islamic world
Egypt-Iran, Politics, 10/1/2001

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher yesterday met with visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi, emerging from the meeting, the Iranian minister stressed that his talks on Sunday with President Hosni Mubarak and Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher reaffirmed that the two countries shared the views regarding the latest developments.

"The developments that followed the terrorist operations against the United State indicate that the world is witnessing new developments and that the Islamic world is showing sensitivity to such developments and is trying to establish its stance," he said.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Maher following their talks, Kharazi said countries such as Egypt and Iran play instrumental roles in mobilizing the Islamic world and establishing the values and principles embraced by Muslims.

He reaffirmed his country's conviction that terrorism could not be handled on the surface but rather its deep down roots must be explored before being removed.

"Terrorism should be handled via unified and stable criteria rather than double-standard stances and criteria," said Kharazi.

He underlined the importance of international cooperation and participation of all world countries in terrorism combat.

He was satisfied with the outcome of his talks with Egyptian officials. On Egyptian-Iranian relations and whether the gap had been narrowed, Maher said "we must not jump to make judgments."

Kharazi thanked Egypt's President, government and people for the warm welcome he received during his current visit to Cairo.

Khatami's visit to Cairo is part of contacts between the two countries, said Maher, recalling that his meeting with Kharazi yesterday is their second.

We met on the sidelines of the UN Anti-Racism Conference, recently hosted by Durban, South Africa, and will meet again on the fringe of the meeting of the Islamic foreign ministers, due in Doha, and in New York, said the foreign minister.

"Each meeting constitutes a step on the way of restoring normal relations between the two countries," said Maher.

"President Mubarak's talks with the Iranian Foreign Minister as well as talks held between myself and him confirmed that the two countries share one viewpoint," he added.

Maher stressed that this agreement in viewpoints between Egypt and Iran represents a very important step, reaffirming the depth of ties and friendship between both countries.

He sounded optimistic such relations would grow naturally. On differences in the viewpoints of Islamic countries as to the coalition called for by the US and whether this would affect the Doha Islamic meeting, Kharazi answered in to the negative.

"Most Islamic states see eye to eye on the need for international cooperation, under UN umbrella, for terrorism combat so as to realize a world consensus on the issue," said Iran's top diplomat.

He expressed hope that the Doha conference of Islamic foreign ministers would produce a statement confirming this stance.

On the attempt, in western countries, to link terrorism to Islam, Kharazi said that some western countries know nothing of Islam and therefore it is natural that they have such ideas and concepts.

"We must not allow such ignorant and hardliners to impose their stances and affect others," he stressed.

Kharazi vocalized conviction that western leaders, like Islamic leaders, believe in dialogue and mutual understanding.

He underlined the importance of cooperation between Arab and western countries to eliminate terrorism.

Kharazi recalled that he had proposed organizing a conference with the participation of Western and Islamic intellectuals to exchange views on this issue.

Previous Stories:
  Mubarak receives Iranian foreign minister tomorrow   (9/29/2001)
  Egyptian- Iranian parliamentary relations discussed   (9/14/2001)
  Maher confers in Durban with counterparts   (9/3/2001)

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