Ahmadinejad holds "fruitful" talks in Egypt historic visit

By Pol O Gradaigh and Nehal El-Sherif, dpa

   Cairo (dpa) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday he had held rich and fruitful discussions in Cairo, in the first visit by an Iranian head of state to Egypt in more than 30 years.

   Ahmadinejad was greeted at Cairo airport in a red-carpet welcoming ceremony by Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi.

   The president of the largest predominantly Shiite Muslim state later met Egypt's top Sunni cleric, Ahmed al-Tayyib, sheikh of the al-Azhar Islamic institute.

   "I had rich and fruitful discussions. We discussed various regional and international issues ... our points of view were very close," Ahmadinejad told a press conference that was carried live on state media.

   "We consider that the blossoming of the Egyptian people is a blossoming of the Iranian people as well," he said, adding that he hoped the visit would "open the door to an exchange of visits between senior officials in the two countries."

   During his meeting with al-Tayyib, Ahmadinejad smiled and repeatedly flashed the victory sign to the cameras.

   In a statement, Al-Azhar said that al-Tayyib had warned Ahmadinejad against spreading the Shiite influence in Egypt and other Sunni countries.  Al-Azhar did not attend the press conference.

   Ahmadinejad is leading the Iranian delegation to a summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which was to start in the Egyptian capital on Wednesday.

   Morsi and Ahmadinejad held short talks at the airport on how to resolve the conflict in Syria without military intervention, state media reported.

   Relations between Egypt and Iran have improved since the fall of former Egyptian president Hosny Mubarak. But the two countries are still at odds over the Syrian conflict, which has claimed at least 60,000 lives in almost two years.

   Tehran, an ally of Damascus, has backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's crackdown on the opposition. Morsi has repeatedly called for al-Assad to step down.

   The discussions were attended by Morsi's foreign affairs adviser, Essam al-Haddad and representatives of Iranian interests in Cairo.

   Ahmadinejad was also expected to visit the al-Hussein mosque in central Cairo and the Giza pyramids.

   But one of Egypt's biggest hardline Islamist groups, the Daawa Salafiya (Salafist Calling), said it opposed a possible visit by Ahmadinejad to Tahrir Square - the epicentre of the popular revolt that ousted Mubarak two years ago - arguing that such a visit could be interpreted as an attempt to  spread Shiite influence in Egypt.

   Morsi should stress that "Egypt is committed to the protection of all Sunni nations," the Salafist group said.

   That statement came shortly after Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr said Egypt's diplomatic relations with any country would not come at the expense of other states' security.

   The Sunni-ruled Gulf states, especially Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, are fierce opponents of Tehran and its regional policies and have repeatedly accused Iran of inciting unrest in their states.

   Egypt remains cautious about re-establishing full diplomatic relations with Iran, apparently wary of estranging the oil-rich Gulf countries, with Amr noting that "Gulf security is a red line" for Egypt.

   Iran and Egypt severed diplomatic ties after Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution and Egypt's peace treaty with Israel. Iran does not recognize Israel.

   Morsi visited Tehran in August for a conference of the Non-Aligned Movement.