CAIRO: Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd visited Tahrir Square, center of the massive protests that topped former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, during his visit to Cairo on Sunday. U.S. Congressmen John McCain and Joe Lieberman also visited Tahrir Square on Sunday, as did U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron and E.U. Foreign Affairs Chief Catherine Ashton during their visits to Cairo last week. Clearly, Tahrir Square is the place to be, even for foreign officials. Rudd said during a joint a press conference with his Egyptian Counterpart Ahmed Aboul Gheit that Australia was studying ways in which it could support the Egyptian economy, particularly its tourism sector. Rudd said he had visited Tahrir Square and congratulated Egyptians for expressing a “strong desire to establish democracy.” He added that his country is prepared to work with the international community to support Egypt's economy, particularly tourism, food security, and agricultural development. Aboul Gheit said Egypt needs economic support during this sensitive phase as it is working towards establishing democracy. Rudd is one of several Western leaders and diplomats have visited Egypt over the past week for talks with the caretaker government. He also met with Amr Moussa, Secretary-General of the Arab League, and Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq. BM
