CAIRO, (AFP) -Syrian President Bashar al-Assad flew into Egypt on Tuesday for talks with his Egyptian counterpart, Hosni Mubarak, about the fallout from the terror attacks on the United States.
Egypt's official news agency MENA said Mubarak greeted Assad, who arrived from visits to Saudi Arabia and Yemen, in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
They were to review "the repercussions of the September 11 attacks in the United States on the international scene and the situation in the Palestinian territories," it said.
Assad's visit to Egypt, coinciding with a ceasefire in the year-old conflict between Israel and the Palestinian, had been initially planned for Wednesday but was brought forward.
Mubarak already met Tuesday with King Abdullah II of Jordan in Sharm el-Sheikh, as part of efforts to coordinate the Arab stand after the United States declared war on terrorism.
Since Sunday, Egypt has stepped up diplomatic contacts to coordinate Arab positions in the wake of the terror attacks in Washington and New York.
Assad held talks with Saudi leaders in the city of Jeddah earlier Tuesday that were expected to focus on the attacks. He met King Fahd and Crown Prince Abdullah, the official SPA press agency reported, without giving details.