Egypt sees security interest in region

CAIRO, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit says the security of the Gulf region is part of Egyptian national security.

In a lecture on foreign policy before the Egyptian Association of International Law, Abul-Gheit said Egypt's national security is closely knit with the rest of the Middle East and that Egypt would not allow close neighbors to pose threats.

Abul-Gheit said, "Egypt's national security begins from Afghanistan and Pakistan in the east to Casablanca in the west and from Alexandria and beyond in the north to the Equatorial State of Sudan and the Republic of the Congo in the south," the Egyptian Government news reported.

During the speech Abul-Gheit said that with the military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq, the United States is now part of the Arab national unity equation and that Islamic civilizations are facing many challenges.

After the Israeli-Palestinian peace conference in Annapolis, Md., Abul-Gheit called efforts to solve the Palestinian question crucial for the security of the region. He called U.S. re-engagement and support for establishing a Palestinian state important and said the United States is "now convinced that the Palestinian problem is the thermometer of ties between the Islamic and Western worlds," the release said.