Paris - Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak and his French counterpart, Nicolas Sarkozy, Monday renewed their call for the creation of an independent and viable Palestinian state, the French presidential office said in a statement. The two leaders met for a working lunch at the Elysee Palace in Paris, during which they expressed their "deep preoccupation" over the current impasse in the Mideast peace talks.
Sarkozy used the occasion to present Mubarak with one of the five fragments from an Egyptian tomb which had apparently been stolen and then sold to the Louvre Museum.
The fragments of a fresco from the tomb of an 18th Dynasty nobleman named Tatiky were purchased by the Louvre in 2001 and 2003 and had become a serious point of dispute between the two nations.
The Louvre claimed it had no knowledge that the artifacts had been stolen, but decided to return them when doubts arose about how they had been taken out of Egypt.
Mubarak also met with Prime Minister Francois Fillon Monday to discuss the situation in the Mideast.
The year 2010 has been designated the Franco-Egyptian Year of Science and Technology. Some 60 events will be held next year in both countries in the fields of information technology, sustainable development and nuclear energy.
