Dubai - Egypt will demand compensation for damage suffered by Egyptian companies in Algeria during football-related violence last month, Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said in an interview published Sunday. "We will demand compensation" and support similar claims by Egyptian companies, Abou Gheit told al-Itihad newspaper in the United Arab Emirates at the start of a diplomatic tour of the Gulf.
Among the companies that suffered was Cairo-based Orascom Telecommunications, which saw its offices and warehouses in Algeria burned, causing millions of dollars in damage.
Ahead of football matches between the two North African nations last month, tensions grew high, as both teams came under attack. Algerian players said their bus in Cairo was stoned, while Egyptians claimed they were assaulted in Sudan, where a final World Cup qualifying match was played.
In the end, Algeria advanced into the World Cup finals being played next year in South Africa.
Aboul Gheit will visit Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain in addition to the UAE. He said he saw the situation in Afghanistan and its neighbours as a priority, in addition to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Horn of Africa and regional Arab issues.
He also called for stability in Yemen and said the Iranian nuclear issues should be resolved peacefully.
