"Azerbaijan ready for closer co-op with Egypt", H. Aliyev says

President Aliyev received a visiting Egyptian delegation led by the Deputy Foreign Minister Mahdi Fathallah Saturday. The diplomat said his country supports Azerbaijan’s effort toward restoration of the historic Silk Route and opening of an EU office in Baku as part of the TRACECA program. He then stated that Azerbaijan, located on the crossroads of the East and West, plays an important role in developing relations in the region.

Mr. Fathallah said he was being accompanied by a delegation of business people, including the vice-president of the Egyptian oil company. The key objective this mission, he said, is to explore for opportunities of economic partnership with regional countries, in particular with Azerbaijan, and to step up regional involvement. The Egyptian diplomat added that while in Azerbaijan his delegation had held talks on prospects of cooperation in the area of production and sale of medicines, construction and oil sectors, and discussed a number of commercial issues. He voiced a fervent hope that the negotiations held would yield fruit.

Mr. Aliyev informed the distinguished guest of the current status in the Garabagh peace talks, saying with some resentment that Arabic countries have largely remained uninvolved, and asked the diplomat to convey to President Mubarak and Foreign Minister Amr Musa that Azerbaijan is in need of Egypt’s support in breaking the current deadlock, as Egypt is one of the leading nations of the Arabic world. He also pledged to contribute to the development of bilateral economic cooperation.

Attending the meeting was Egyptian ambassador to Azerbaijan Mr. Jihan Amin Muhammad Ali.*