Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit on Wednesday 17/5/2006 gave a lecture at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP), one of the biggest studies centers in Singapore.

Presenting Abul-Gheit to attendees, Ambassador Kishore Mahbubani, the LKYSPP dean, hailed Egypt's historical role in the Middle East region and its efforts to maintain peace there.

Addressing the gathering, Abul-Gheit expounded the situation in the ME region in light of the latest development, stressing the importance of resuming negotiations between the Palestinian and Israeli sides to push ahead the stalled peace process.

He asserted the need to implement the internationally-backed roadmap for peace, along with establishing an independent state of Palestine that would peacefully co-exist alongside Israel, underlining the importance of preventing unilateral Israeli steps that may hinder the peace efforts.

Abul-Gheit also tackled the situation in Iraq, noting that the Iraqi and Palestinian problems were the main causes of instability in the region.

Shifting to Iran's nuclear problem, Abul-Gheit asserted Egypt's firm stand against nuclear Proliferation, renewing the Egyptian call for rendering the ME region free from nuclear weapons.