Mubarak, Chirac review situation in Middle East tensions

French President Jacque Chirac contacted Wednesday evening Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on the latest developments in the Middle East.

Egypt's Ambassador to Paris Ali Maher said that the two Presidents had probed the situation in the region and exchanged views on their efforts to stop further aggravations.

According to Maher, the two leaders had agreed to continue discussions over how to extricate the region from "the current dangerous quandary."

Moreover, the Egyptian-American contacts continued to contain violence through enforcing the Mitchell Commission's report.

State Department Spokesman said that Washington continuously and directly keeps in touch with Egypt and a number of governments in the Middle East.

According to the spokesman, US Secretary of State Colin Powell held contacts with Foreign Ministers of Italy, Belgium and Germany on a European initiative to stop deteriorating conduction in the occupied territories with the American and Russian help.