ROME: President Hosni Mubarak, in Rome for talks, voiced opposition to any use of force in the Iran nuclear crisis, the Italian news agency ANSA quoted Mubarak s spokesman as saying. The path of dialogue is the sole and only option, ANSA quoted spokesman Suleiman Awad as saying when referring to Mubarak s assessment of talks during a day in which the Egyptian leader held talks with Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi. When contacted by The Associated Press, Awad said he was in a meeting with Mubarak and could not immediately answer questions about Mubarak s reported remarks on Iran. There was no mention of these comments in the premier s office statement on the Mubarak-Berlusconi talks, and officials in Berlusconi s office could not immediately be reached to confirm Mubarak s comments. During the talks, both men insisted that Iran must aspire only to the peaceful use of nuclear energy, Berlusconi s office said. ANSA quoted Awad as saying that Mubarak voiced support for continued dialogue while at the same time granting IAEA (the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency) full and unconditional access to nuclear sites to rule out any military aim for Tehran s nuclear program. The leaders discussion about Tehran came as the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council weighed proposals for an initial response to the Iranian nuclear crisis. To go to the Security Council might bring some pressure, but it is not the solution to the problem, ANSA quoted Awad as saying about Mubarak s comments. On the Iranian issue, the shared commitment to contribute to a solution of the delicate question was reiterated, in the conviction that Iranian nuclear aspirations must remain limited to the peaceful use of (nuclear) energy, Berlusconi s office said. Italian Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini also attended the talks in the premier s office. The visit to Rome is the first leg of the Egyptian president s tour of European capitals that includes Berlin and Vienna. Both sides in the talks agreed on the need to re-launch dialogue in Middle East peace efforts, the statement also said. Mubarak is expected to meet Monday with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican on his way back to Egypt. The pontiff suspended all his audiences this week to perform spiritualexercises at the start of the Roman Catholic Church s solemn Lenten season. During their talks, Mubarak and Berlusconi also discussed promoting deeper cultural and religious understanding between the Western and Islamic world especially in the Mediterranean area, the premier s office said. Berlusconi has praised Egypt as an indispensable partner in efforts to combat terror. AP
