American secretary of state stops in Cairo

Madeleine Albright, the American secretary of state, stopped tonight to meet with her Egyptian counterpart, Amr Moussa, at Cairo airport, where they discussed bilateral relations.

The Egyptian foreign minister said that the discussion was positive concerning reaching a solution to the Iraqi crisis within the framework of Security Council resolutions, the necessity for the solution to be a political one, and the peace process in the Middle East and the attempts to save it and exert efforts in order to reach an agreement that will satisfy both sides.

Responding to a question asking if they discussed the military option for resolving the Iraqi crisis, Moussa said that when two foreign ministers meet, they talk about political and not military matters.

Concerning whether Egypt was informed of the details related to the Russian effort to defuse the Iraqi crisis, he said that he made calls to both Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov and the French Foreign Minister Hubert Verdine. They discussed the efforts exerted concerning this issue and these consultations were continued during his meeting with Albright.

Albright said in a brief press statement after her arrival that she wants to seize the chance to affirm again US feelings of regret and disappointment towards the cowardly crime that happened in Luxor, Monday.

She also added that she'll meet the French, Russian and British foreign ministers in Geneva to discuss means of securing the immediate resumption of UN weapons inspections in Iraq

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Albright expressed that since the beginning of Iraqi crisis, Washington was seeking to accomplish its aim: Iraqi compliance with the international community's orders. Albright was coming from India when she stopped in Cairo on her way to Geneva.