The visit of the French President Jacques Chirac to Egypt comes at a time of growing tensions in the region which dominated his talks with President Hosni Mubarak, writes Gamal Nkrumah Immediately after the warm welcome President Hosni Mubarak bestowed on French President Jacques Chirac at the Cairo International Airport, the two delved into regional concerns, urging Western powers to pursue diplomacy rather than resorting to the use of military force with Iran over its controversial nuclear programme. "We must explore all diplomatic possibilities," Chirac said upon arrival in Cairo. Mubarak concurred. "This question must be resolved through diplomatic and political means," Mubarak explained, warning that military operations would have "dangerous regional repercussions." The French leader, who is embarking on his seventh trip to Egypt, discussed with Mubarak the stalled Palestinian-Israeli peace process and especially after the recently-formed Hamas-controlled government. The two leaders also covered the tense situation in Sudan's war-torn Darfur province and in neighbouring Chad. Also topping the agenda were the Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq files. President Chirac heads a high-powered delegation which includes his Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy and External Trade Minister Christine Lagarde as well as his wife Bernadette. The two presidents are scheduled to inaugurate the French University in Egypt today. The visit is also intended to enhance trade relations and technical cooperation between the two countries. Accompanying Chirac is a large group of businessmen and investors with the intention of signing an agreement aimed at transforming Egypt's debts to France into investments. The French leader also urged the Hamas-controlled Palestinian government to renounce the armed struggle against Israel and to resume the peace process that was initiated by the previous Fatah-led government. The two leaders agreed that improving the living conditions of the Palestinians was a vital necessity at this historical juncture. "It is politically clumsy to make the Palestinian population pay" for electing Hamas, by cutting humanitarian aid, said Chirac at a joint press conference following his meeting with Mubarak. Commenting on the blast in Tel Aviv that claimed the lives of nine Israelis on Monday, Mubarak and his French counterpart urged restraint. They condemned violence, target killings and the building and enlargement of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. In an interview with Osama Saraya, Al-Ahram's editor-in-chief, Chirac stressed that France had no "hidden agenda" regarding Syria, and that Paris did not insist on a regime change in Damascus, rather it did want to see democratic and political reforms in Syria and other Arab countries of the region. Chirac also told Al-Ahram that Iran must comply with the requests of the International Atomic Energy Agency that it provides objective proof of the peaceful nature of its nuclear programme. Egypt, on the other hand, insists that a diplomatic solution be arrived at. But Egypt expressed grave reservations about the international double standards which allow Israel to get away with not signing the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Iran, a signatory to the NPT, is suspected by Western powers of seeking to acquire an atomic bomb. The United Nations Security Council has requested that Iran suspends its nuclear activities by 28 April.
