Mubarak calls on Bush to maintain dialogue with Syria

Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak called on his US peer President George W. Bush, in a telephone call yesterday, to maintain a dialogue with Syria in order to "preserve stability in the region and avoid further tension."

News reports said that Mubarak received a telephone call from Bush who renewed his invitation" to the Egyptian President to "visit the US for further consultation and exchange of views on issues of the region in addition to issues of mutual concern between Egypt and the USA."

Mubarak stressed "the importance of exerting efforts by the USA to maintain understanding and dialogue with Syria, in order to become familiar with facts, so as to preserve stability in the region and avert further tension." The news also said that the telephone call dealt with "developments in the Middle East region and necessary efforts made to reach an agreement between Israel and the Palestinian as well as the "situation in Iraq."