Berlin - The crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, voiced Arab anger over the Gaza crisis on Monday in Berlin to Chancellor Angela Merkel and other German officials. Merkel's spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm said she and the crown prince had "an extensive discussion." Both had been "very concerned" at the continuing fighting between Hamas and Israel and the humanitarian crisis.
"The crown prince briefed the chancellor in detail on reaction in the Arab world and efforts by Arab states," said Wilhelm. "She and the crown prince agreed that Egypt has to play a central role in negotiating a ceasefire."
He added that Prince Mohammed welcomed Germany's and France's support for Egypt taking on the task of policing the Gaza-Egypt border, encouraging talks between the Palestinians and Israel and reconciling Hamas radicals with Palestine Authority moderates.
Merkel, who has spoken out through her spokesmen in support of Israel, said that she wanted to see progress on stopping arms smuggling into Gaza so that missile attacks on Israel came to an end.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who spent Saturday and Sunday meeting Egyptian, Palestinian Authority and Israeli officials on a Mideast trip, briefed the crown prince on negotiations for a ceasefire.
Merkel's spokesman said the chancellor assured the prince, whose emirate is a main part of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), that she and Steinmeier as well as French President Nicolas Sarkozy would keep up efforts to end the crisis.
She said those efforts must be based on last week's UN Security Council resolution and must lead to a sustainable ceasefire as soon as possible.
Israeli forces moved into the Gaza Strip more than two weeks ago.
Germany and the UAE agreed to jointly fund a project to upgrade a key airport in northern Afghanistan at Mazar-i-Sharif into a regional air transport hub. The German Foreign Ministry said the total cost would be 35 million euros (47 million dollars).
UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan, who was accompanying the crown prince, signed an agreement on the project.
The German minister said the upgrading was a major project in Afghanistan's reconstruction with civilian benefits to the whole region as well as improving air traffic control in Afghan airspace.
Aides said the idea was brought up when Steinmeier visited Abu Dhabi last October.
Details of the project still have to be settled, but Germany expects construction to start this year under the supervision of Germany's federal reconstruction bank KfW.
