President Hosni Mubarak on Tuesday received Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa for talks on the latest developments in the Arab world, writes Dina Ezzat Following the meeting, Moussa told reporters that he and the president reviewed disturbing recent regional developments and subsequent efforts conducted by the Arab League to contain crises in Palestine and Iraq. Developments on the Syrian-Lebanese border, sources say, have also figured in the agenda of the Mubarak-Moussa talks after both Cairo and the Arab League intervened to contain tension between the two neighbouring nations over the movement of trucks carrying Lebanese exports and fishing boats into Syrian territory and waters. The meeting came a few days after the Arab League offered its support to the Egyptian mission in Iraq in the wake of the killing of Ehab El-Sherif, head of the Egyptian diplomatic mission in Baghdad. Earlier in the week, Moussa had stressed that Iraq cannot be left without "effective Arab presence at a time when the Arab identity of Iraq seems to be at serious risk". Moussa stressed that it is wrong to call on Arab governments to refrain from posting diplomats to Baghdad. "Arab countries have to have a strong presence in Iraq and this presence should not necessarily be read as a sign of consent to any particular policies." The Arab League secretary-general specifically called the mission of murdered El-Sherif "fulfillment of an Arab strategic interest to keep in touch with the Iraqi people of all ethnic and political backgrounds -- and not just the Iraqi government -- who need the support of their Arab brothers". "Arabs owe it to Iraq and to themselves not to let this important Arab nation slip out of the Arab world. This is no easy mission," Moussa stressed.
