EGYPT: Future of Kosovo comes under discussion during meetings between Albanian and Egyptian leaders in Cairo

Record ID: 561596

  • Title: EGYPT: Future of Kosovo comes under discussion during meetings between Albanian and Egyptian leaders in Cairo
  • Date: 30th October 2007
  • Summary: SEAL OF EGYPTIAN PRESIDENCY BERISHA LEAVING PRESIDENCY
  • Embargoed: 14th November 2007 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Egypt
  • Country: Egypt
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA8G1EQ628RV9I7YMGYSYW1TPJE
  • Story Text: Future of Kosovo comes under discussion during meetings between Albanian and Egyptian leaders.
    Albanian prime minister Sali Berisha met with the Egyptian president in Cairo on Monday (October 29).
    Bilateral relations and the future status of Kosovo are believed to have come under discussion during Berisha's meeting with Hosni Mubarak.
    Berisha's meeting with Mubarak came after talks with the Egyptian foreign minister, Ahmed Aboul Gheit on Sunday (October 28). At a news conference on Sunday, About Gheit said that he and Berisha had discussed the prospect of independence for Kosovo but refused say whether Egypt would support such a move.
    Kosovo has an ethnic-Albanian majority and has been under U.N. rule since 1999, when NATO expelled Serb forces accused of killing civilians while fighting a separatist insurgency.
    Negotiations between Serbia and Kosovo Albanian leaders have been going on for months with no sign of compromise.
    The Albanians have threatened to declare independence unilaterally once the talks end in early December and are hoping for recognition from the United States and major EU countries.
    On Sunday, Aboul Gheit, who said the two sides had discussed a UN plan for Kosovo brokered by Martti Ahtisaari, said that Egypt will announce its position on Kosovan independence at a later date.
    The Egyptian media also reported that the two delegations discussed ways to further develop trade relations between them.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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