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Egypt and Armenia discuss Iran's nuclear programme

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  • Egypt and Armenia discuss Iran's nuclear programme

    France24, France
    April 14 2006


    Egypt and Armenia discuss Iran's nuclear programme


    Send by e-mail Save Print Armenian President Robert Kocharian and
    President Hosni Mubarak discussed Iran's controversial nuclear
    programme in Cairo on Saturday.

    "Their talks covered the Iranian nuclear issue, developments in the
    region and the Gulf. Armenia is particularly interested in the
    nuclear file since it shares its southern frontier with Iran,"
    Suleiman Awad told journalists.

    Iran says its uranium enrichment programme is for peaceful civilian
    purposes, but Western states suspect it may be used to develop a
    nuclear bomb, and have slapped sanctions on Tehran in a bid to get it
    to halt the project.

    "Iraq also featured in the discussions, which covered regional
    problems in Central Asia, particularly the conflict between Armenia
    and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh," Awad said.

    During Kocharian's three-day visit, the interior ministers of both
    countries are expected to sign accords on organised crime, judicial
    cooperation and customs.

    On Sunday, Kocharian will meet the Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar, Mohammed
    Sayyed Tantawi, one of the most prominent figures in Sunni Islam.

    Once home to a massive Armenian community, Egypt has close historical
    ties with Armenia -- in 1878, Armenian Nubar Pasha became the
    country's first prime minister.

    In the 1940s some 40,000 Armenians lived in Egypt, mostly in Cairo
    and Alexandria, although many left in the 1960s with the rise of
    Egyptian nationalism and more socialist laws that hit Armenian
    businesses.

    Today some 8,000 people of Armenian origin live in Egypt, according
    to the community's website.

    http://www.france24.com/france24Public/e n/administration/afp-news.html?id=070414135254.31o lu900&cat=null
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