U.S. embassy in Cairo denies false reports

The U.S embassy in Cairo denied reports which appeared in the press recently claiming that, for political reasons, the US embassy deliberately avoided booking the US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright into Helnan Palestine Hotel in Alexandria, or that the secretary of sate personally made such a decision.

The embassy stated that its administrative section made two visits to the Helnan Palestine Hotel in early September to inquire into availability of rooms, but the sales department informed the embassy that all rooms were completely booked for long-scheduled international events. At that point the embassy looked to other hotels for room availability.