Egypt and Germany pledge to cooperate on the Middle East, Iran – German Foreign Ministry press release/Non-UN document

Egypt and Germany pledge to cooperate on Mideast, Iran
Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak met Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Sunday at the end of a three-day visit to Germany. The two men discussed the situation in the Middle East and Iran's controversial nuclear programme – issues which figured prominently in the president's two-hour meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday.

At a press conference after the talks, Merkel said both leaders agreed to cooperate to promote the Mideast peace process and achieve a diplomatic solution to the crisis over Iran's nuclear programme. Merkel said the militant Islamic movement Hamas, which is forming a government after winning last month's Palestinian elections, had to realize that "violence is not the way to resolve problems." The European Union has said it would not deal with Hamas unless it renounces violence, recognizes Israel's right to exist and accepts progress made so far in the peace process.

Mubarak said the international community must deal with Hamas because it was democratically elected.
The German chancellor said there was still time to reach a diplomatic solution to the issue of Iran's uranium enrichment programme, which is now before the United Nations Security Council.

From Germany, the Egyptian president was scheduled to travel to Austria, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, before going on to Rome for a meeting Monday with Pope Benedict XVI.