Congressmen thank Mubarak for fairness

Egypt's ambassador to the US underlined that a number of US Congressmen thanked President Hosni Mubarak for his government's stances.

In an interview with MENA, Nabil Fahmi said that these stances reflected a real interest in treating all Egyptians on equal footing regardless of their creeds.

President Mubarak underlined that he does not discriminate between Muslims and Copts, Fahmi added.

As regards accusations against the Egyptian press of publishing anti-Semitism materials, he said that this issue has been raised during a meeting held with a number of representatives of the Jewish organizations.

The President said that the Egyptian press is free and that he does not interfere in anything published.

"The President pointed out that the Arabs, whether Muslims or Christians, are the most abused by foreign quarters and newspapers," Fahmi said.

President Mubarak expressed regret over the deteriorating situation in the Middle East and practices against the Palestinian people, he added.

Fahmi said that President Mubarak's visit to Washington last week has achieved its objectives.

"Contacts are under way with the American administration to define means of maintaining continuous coordination between the two sides at political and economic levels," he said.

Among positive results of the visit is that an agreement under which the Egyptian American Business Council, to be reformed, would refer its reports to Presidents Mubarak and George W. Bush, he added.

Fahmi said Mubarak's visit has fulfilled its targets by all objective standards.

He added he would feel completely assured of the visit's success when all its results are translated into tangible realities.

"The visit was a success and Egyptian and US institutions must follow up this success and invest on it." he said.

"At the end of Mubarak's visit to the US the President conveyed a message to Jordan's king Abdullah, who was to arrive in Washington a few days after him, he said.

"The message dwelt on issues raised by Mubarak during his Washington trip," he said.

King Abdullah expressed appreciation for and interest in this message.

We, on our part, will contact the Jordanian side to learn of the outcome of king Abdullah's visit as well, Fahmi added.