Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit met Monday with NATO Secretary General Jaap De Hoop Scheffer.

In statements following the meeting, Abul-Gheit said that talks took up the NATO's role in the Mediterranean Sea and the bloc's ties with South Mediterranean countries.

The top diplomat added that he apprised the NATO official of Egypt's vision as to the situation in Lebanon, Iraq and Iran's nuclear dossier.

The current crisis in the western Sudanese region of Darfur and the situation in Somalia also featured high at the meeting.

Talking on cooperation between Egypt and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization within the framework of the Mediterranean Dialogue Work Programme (MDWP), the Egyptian foreign minister said that such a programme provided from 400 to 500 fields to boost cooperation with the Mediterranean countries.

Egypt's ties with the NATO were established more than 12 years ago, Abul-Gheit pointed out.

The Egyptian top diplomat said that Cairo chose programmes in its favour, including those of natural disaster and crisis management and global humanitarian mine action.

He underlined that Egypt-NATO ties were based on promoting dialogue. Commenting on military drills between Egypt and the NATO, Abul-Gheit said that there were no joint military exercises, explaining that Egyptian troops have military training on Egyptian lands within the framework of the Bright Star war games.