Romanian official astonished at response to Luxor attack

Ewan Donka, the Romanian deputy foreign minister, was astonished by some countries' response to the recent terrorist attack in Luxor, Egypt.

After his meeting with the Foreign Ministry's assistant for European affairs, ambassador Fathi El-Shazely, Donka told reporters that such attacks as the one carried out at Luxor do happen in different parts of the world and that there has been an exaggeration in the responses to this incident.

The Romanian official said that he was moved by his visit to Luxor, adding that the number of tourists in Luxor is large with the majority from foreign countries.

Concerning his talks in Cairo with El-Shazely, the Romanian deputy foreign minister said that the talks focused on cooperation and coordination between the two countries in the fields of economics, trade, security, judicial and organized crime -- at the top of which is terrorism -- and regional issues, stating that 1998 will witness talks between the Egyptian and Romanian Foreign Ministries.

El-Shazely said that the visit of Romanian officials is a preliminary step toward high-level visits between the countries during 1998.

El-Shazely said that Egypt and Romania are resuming the treaties upon which they have agreed, affirming cooperation in the fields of security, policy, combating crime in its all forms including terrorism, and judicial cooperation. He added that Egypt is encouraging Romanian businessmen to explore investment apportunities in Egypt .

El-Shazely said that the volume of trade exchange between the two countries is $600 million. All this was primarily based on the fact that Romania is considered a historic partner with Egypt and there are long-standing relations between the two countries.