Egypt rejects U.S. coalition, upgrades ties with Iraq
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SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Friday, September 21, 2001
CAIRO Ñ As a policy debate rages at top levels in the Bush administration over attacking the regime of President Saddam
Hussein, Egypt is moving to improve relations with Iraq.
Egyptian diplomats said President Hosni Mubarak plans to raise the level
of representation between Baghdad and Cairo to the level of ambassador. They
said diplomatic ties would be raised commensurate to the level of trade
relations.
Egypt has refused to participate in a U.S.-led military coalition
against any Saudi billionaire fugitive Osama Bin Laden or any of his
government sponsors. Instead, Mubarak has called for a United
Nations-sponsored conference on international terrorism, Middle East Newsline reports.
Egypt has sent a new charge d'affaires to Baghdad. He is Hussein Zoghbi,
a 59-year-old former ambassador to Eritrea.
In an interview to the Egyptian official Middle East News Agency, Zoghbi
said Egyptian-Iraqi relations would soon be renewed at the level of full
diplomatic ties. He said such relations are developing in cooperation with
Iraq.
Egypt and Iraq have agreed to increase trade relations, including the
establishment of a free trade zone. Iraq has also agreed to increase the
number of Egyptian laborers in the country.
Zoghbi said his job would focus on representing Egyptian nationals in
Iraq.
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