Britain lauds Egypt's role in peace process

Brian Wilson, British Minister of State for the Mideast and African Affairs, said his country is interested in pushing forward the Middle East peace process.

He expressed hope that negotiations would be resumed after the coming Israeli elections.

Emerging from his meeting with Foreign Minister Amr Moussa late Sunday, the British official said the talks were constructive and touched on a number of issues including the situation in the Middle East, the peacemaking and the situation in Libya and Iraq.

The British minister praised Egypt's role in the peacemaking drive, expressing his appreciation of the efforts made by the Egyptian diplomacy in this respect.

Wilson affirmed that the aim of his visit to Cairo is to focus on beefing up trade exchange between the two countries, pointing out that he met with Prime Minister Atef Ebeid to probe ways of boosting joint trade and investment.

The British minister affirmed that he had talks with Moussa on Lockerbie issue, adding that negotiations are underway with Libya on the issue of compensations.

There is still an appeal of the court ruling, Wilson said, voicing his country satisfaction with the trial.