Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit Monday voiced support to U.S. President George W. Bush's new plan in Iraq, hoping that the plan will bring stability, unity and cohesion to the war-torn country, the pan-Arab al-Jazeera reported.

Egypt is convinced that the U.S. new plan to deal with the situation in the Baghdad area will be able to bring stability to Iraq, Abul Gheit said during a joint news conference with Rice, who arrived in the southern Egyptian ancient city of Luxor earlier in the day.

"Egypt hopes the plan will lead to the required level of stability in Iraq," Abul Gheit was quoted by Egypt's MENA news agency as saying.

Rice met Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak before the news conference and they discussed the overall situation in the Middle East, especially the Iraqi and the Palestinian issues, Abul Gheit told the news conference.

The Egyptian top diplomat noted that the Egyptian-American talks also dwelt on Rice's talks in Ramallah and Israel, as well as her vision of propelling the peace process between Palestinians and Israelis.

In general, the Mubarak-Rice meeting was "positive and constructive," Abul Gheit concluded.

Rice, who is on a Mideast tour in an effort to revive the stalled peace process in the region, has met with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordanian King Abdullah II before her talks with Mubarak.

Source: Xinhua