EGYPT yesterday steped up its pres-ence in Iraq as the new Cairo envoy to Baghdad assumed his official duties since its charge d'affaires, Ihab el-Sherif was kidnapped and killed
in 2005, Al-Gomhuria newspaper has reported today.In pre-departure statement, Ambassador Sherif Mohamed Kamal Shahin, a diplomat with 27 years of diplomatic experience, said that he would open the Egyptian mission in Baghdad to promote relations between the two Arab countries.Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, who visited Iraq this year, said Egypt was finishing work on an embassy on the Tigris River.Abul-Gheit added that the appointment of the new Egyptian ambassador in Iraq reflected Egypt's support for Iraqi govern-ment and people to overcome the difficulties they are currently facing.
