President Hosni Mubarak has approved the opening of two Egyptian consulates in Iraq. The first consulate will be opened in the northern city of Erbil, while the other will be located in Basra, southern Iraq. The Egyptian embassy in Baghdad was reopened in December 2009. The declaration came after the president of the Iraqi Kurdistan region, Masoud Barzani, visited Mubarak at his presidential palace in Helipolis, Cairo. Mubarak also met with Iraq's vice president Adel Abdel Hady. The meetings were attended by Egyptian foreign minister Ahmed Abul Gheit, who later issued a statement saying that the talks focused on conditions in Iraq and Egypt's interest in Iraqi issues in light of the historical ties between both countries. Abul Gheit added that Mubarak has decided to reinforce Egypt's presence in Iraq, and that Egypt is committed to sending many of its companies to participate in tenders in a bid to help Iraq out of its difficult situation. The Arab Contractors Company was invited to take part in a public tender to carry out Baghdad's subway project. According to Abul Gheit, Mubarak urged his Iraqi guests to hasten the formation of the new Iraqi government, warning that the exclusion of any political trend will negatively affect the whole political process. He added that Mubarak voiced his happiness in receiving the Iraqi officials and stressed Egypt's ongoing support for Iraq's stability. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
