Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abul-Gheit, on Wednesday May 31, gave a three-installment interview to al-Akhbar daily newspaper which ran through Friday June 2. In it, he illustrated the basis and principles of Egyptian foreign policy explaining the country's stances regarding the major regional and international issues of our time. Abul-Gheit said that Egyptian foreign policy rested on two fundamental elements: the geographic location and the political weight.

With respect to the geographic location Abul-Gheit illustrated that Egypt was an Afro-Asian Mediterranean country and that no country with influence across the entire span of history but has had connections with Egypt in some form or other.

Egyptian foreign policy dynamics
- The Nile basin is top on the list of Egypt's priorities
- The immediate front- and back-yards, where threats arise and influence is wielded.
- International powers which need to be handled with caution.

Egypt's diplomatic role is not confined to the influence played by its foreign ministers or by its ambassadors across the globe. Other forces interact such as those of the national media. Millions of people abroad listen to and watch the Egyptian radio and television. There is also the power of public opinion.

Fundamentals of Egypt's foreign policy
- Protecting national security; and
- Achieving national goals and ensuring growth

There are several international and regional issues of great importance to Egypt:

The Middle East peace process
Achieving peace, stability and development in the Middle East region is one of Egypt's established goals. The absence of a solution of the Palestinian question stands an obstacle to comprehensive development in the region. Egypt thus pursues a number of courses in this connection:
-To persuade Hamas to change its stance regarding the current situation with a view to giving momentum to achieving peace; and to preventing in-fighting amongst Palestinians.
-To press for resuming negotiations on the roadmap.
-To persuade the international community against toughening its stance to prevent a Palestinian implosion; Israelis have been urged to release the amounts of taxes collected on behalf of the Palestinians and to free the thousands of Palestinian prisoners incarcerated in Israeli jails.
-To motivate the Palestinians to stop fighting, Hamas to reconcile with the PLO, and Mahmoud Abbas to exercise his powers as President of the Palestinian Authority.
-To persuade Israel against the unilateral steps, which Egypt believes do not serve the ultimate goal of achieving peace; agreements should be reached between the two sides on organized withdrawals and security measures.

The Sudan dossier
Egypt maintains a high profile presence in Sudan. A presidential envoy has attended the meetings in Abuja, Nigeria which brought to birth the Darfur Peace Accords. Earlier, on January 8, 2005, Egypt witnessed the agreement of peace in southern Sudan reached in Naivasha, Kenya.

Abul-Gheit stressed that Egyptian diplomacy strives to achieve reconciliation in Sudan. It seeks to build confidence with the purpose of ensuring a public choice of being part of an united Sudan when the time comes for the referendum to be held.

Egypt has moreover formed one fifth of the United Nations troops in Sudan. There are also members of the Egyptian Police and Armed Forces in Darfur acting as observers.

The Egyptian corporate community has been encouraged to provide work opportunities for the people in the southern region and the country is also set on drawing up plans to develop Darfur.

The Iraqi crisis
The Arab nation as a whole, Abul-Gheit explains, seeks to avert the threat in Iraq of a civil war breaking out between the Iraqi factions, a war which could disunite the country. Egypt also endeavors to fight outsiders who wish to undermine Iraq's Arab character. Egyptians are willing to assist the Iraqi authorities in rebuilding their defunct institutions. Training programs have been devised to that effect. Meanwhile, the need has been asserted for convening a national reconciliation conference as soon as possible.

Iran and the nuclear dossier
Egypt presses for eliminating all weapons of mass destruction from the Middle East region, in accordance with President Mubarak's initiative launched in Salzburg, Austria while addressing the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on January 28, 1986. The international community should be as enthused towards this initiative as it is presently lax with respect to weapons proliferation and to inviting Israel to accede to NPT.

The Syrian-Lebanese dossier
Egypt asserts the need to respect the sovereignty, independence and stability of both Lebanon and Syria. It is essential to improve relations between the two countries with a view to achieving regional stability and avoiding more crises. The Syrian-Lebanese and the inter-Lebanese dialogues should therefore be pursued. In addition to implementing United Nations Security Council Resolution 1559, the mystery shrouding the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri should be unveiled.

The Barcelona Process and the Egypt-European Union Association Agreement
The period before the convening of the Euro-Mediterranean Summit of November 2005 saw intensified Egyptian efforts in the area of coordinating Arab stances. Egypt was present in all preparatory ministerial meetings.

The coming into effect, in June 2004, of the Egypt-EU Association Agreement moreover has marked a major development in strengthening ties between the two sides. Agreements were reached on phasing out custom duties, removing quantity restrictions on Egyptian industrial exports. Agricultural exports accessing European markets have been offered preferential treatment.

The Sahel Sub-Saharan Group
To further actualize its interest in Africa, as one of its foreign policy denominators, Egypt has joined the Libyan-launched Sahel and Sub-Saharan group in its capacity as observer. In January 2006, it became a full-fledged member. As such, it strives to achieve African priorities and in coordination with other group members, seeks to settle the border dispute between Chad and Sudan and to support the Darfur Peace Accords signed recently in Abuja.

The reform program
Egypt has a plan to turn into facts on the ground the election promises proclaimed by President Mubarak over the next 6 years.