Maher meets Irish lawmakers

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher met Monday with an Irish parliamentary delegation, currently visiting Egypt.

"The meeting took up several international issues of common interest, foremost among which are the situation in the Middle East and the issue of Iraq," said the head of the Irish delegation,adding that the two sides exchanged viewpoints on all issues in an open and frank way.

The Egyptian side expressed concern over the continued Israeli practices against the Palestinian people and the suffering of the Iraqi people, said the Irish legislator.

He hailed the inspiring and constructive role played by Egypt in the region, reaffirming a desire to promote Egyptian-Irish relations, especially in the trade and diplomatic fields.

Meantime, Shura Council Speaker Mustafa Kamal Helmi met Monday with the head of the joint ventures committee at the Irish Parliament and Senate.

During the meeting, Helmi reviewed with the delegation the history of parliamentary life in Egypt, and the role played by the Shura Council as a legislative body.

The meeting was also attended by Irish Ambassador in Cairo Peter Gunning as well as a number of Shura Council members.

The Shura Council Speaker stressed the need to differentiate between terrorism and the peoples' legitimate right to national struggle and resistance of occupation.

The Palestinian people have a right to establish an independent state with Al Quds (Jerusalem) as its capital, he averred.

Helmi pointed out Mubarak's initiative on a Middle East free of all weapons of mass destruction.