The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Cairo

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said on Monday that the presence of US and other foreign troops in Iraq will lead to more terrorism and harm the whole region, the official MENA news agency reported. "The continued presence of US and other foreign troops in Iraq will lead to more terrorist acts in the country and harm the security of the whole region," he told reporters on his way to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. Egypt is a key regional ally of the US and receives the second largest amount of aid from Washington after Israel. US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said in Baghdad on Monday he favoured a short pause in troop drawdowns from Iraq after about 30,000 American soldiers have been sent home by July. Gates said in July that Egypt was concerned the US might "withdraw precipitously from Iraq, or in some way that is destabilising for the entire region."