Syria's differences with the UN and Lebanon have topped the agenda of a meeting between Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, and Hosni Mubarak, his Egyptian counterpart, in Cairo, according to Egypt's foreign minister. Al-Assad flew to the Egyptian capital on Tuesday for a visit of only a few hours and immediately went into talks with Mubarak. After their talks, neither al-Assad nor Mubarak spoke to the media.Ahmed Aboul Gheit, the Egyptian foreign minister, said they "focused on the main regional issues related to the Mehlis investigation and the latest UN Security Council decision and how Syria dealt with it, as well as Syrian-Lebanese relations and how to advance them". Farouk al-Sharaa, the Syrian foreign minister, said Syria was beset by "campaigns from abroad" and there were "internal elements (in Lebanon) who used them and escalated them ... for political purposes". He said his government was determined to improve relations with Lebanon.
