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Egypt calls for forming regional Contact Group on Syria

Syria will be a key item on the agenda of the Tehran summit of the Non-Aligned Movement
Photo EPA/ITAR-TASS
Photo EPA/ITAR-TASS

CAIRO, August 26 (Itar-Tass) —— Egypt calls for forming a regional Contact Group on Syria of itself, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey.

The initiative aimed to settle the Syrian crisis implies negotiations of the allies and the opponents of the Syrian regime, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

In his words, Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr has held telephone negotiations with the Iranian, Saudi and Turkish colleagues. “We are holding active consultations on the possible meeting of the regional quartet,” the diplomat said. Meanwhile, the Egyptian Presidential Administration press secretary said the meeting would pool efforts of influential countries. Iran is bound to become a part of the solution rather than a part of the problem, he noted.

Syria will be a key item on the agenda of the Tehran summit of the Non-Aligned Movement. The Iranian Foreign Ministry said that Iran would present a comprehensive plan of the Syrian settlement.

Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Chairman Alaeddin Boroujerdi said in Damascus on Sunday he was discussing with the Syrian authorities a draft initiative on the Syrian settlement Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad plans to present at a summit of the Non-Aligned States on August 30-31.

Egyptian President Muhammad Morsi will attend the summit on August 30. That would be the first visit of the Egyptian leader to Iran in more than three decades. Iranian officials view the upcoming visit as a serious step towards the restoration of full-scale relations between Iran and Egypt broken up in 1979.