Italian president due to arrive in Cairo on Tuesday

Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi is due to start a visit to Cairo on Tuesday at the beginning of a 10-day tour of Middle East that is to include Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Syria and Jordan to discuss the peace process developments in the Lebanese arena and infastructure attacks against Lebanon by Israeli jets.

Italian sources said the Italian president's talks in the area will focus on means of supporting the negotiations on the Arab - Israeli track and means of revitalizing the peace process in Middle East, as well as Italian relations with the Arab states in addition to developing joint cooperation with Italy in all fields.