Egyptian ministers in Iraq to meet president, PM

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The Egyptian ministers of foreign affairs and energy and electricity on Sunday arrived in Iraq on an unannounced visit to meet with the Iraqi president and premier in the highest-ranking visit by an Egyptian delegation since 1990. “Egyptian ministers Ahmed Aboul Gheit and Hassan Younis will hold talks with President Jalal al-Talabani, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zibari, and a number of Iraqi officials,” an under-secretary of state for foreign affairs, Labeed Abbawi, told IraqiNews.com. Abbawi declined to provide any details of the visit’s agenda or to reveal whether the delegation included a new Egyptian ambassador to Iraq. Ihab al-Sharif was appointed as an ambassador-designate to Iraq, but he was assassinated shortly after his posting in June 2005, with al-Qaeda-in-Iraq claiming responsibility for the killing.   SS (P) 1