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Germany's Westerwelle: Nothing will be the same again in Egypt

Other News Materials 30 January 2011 20:27 (UTC +04:00)
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle on Sunday assured anti-government protesters in Egypt of his country's solidarity with them, saying that life could no longer return to normal there, dpa reported.
Germany's Westerwelle: Nothing will be the same again in Egypt

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle on Sunday assured anti-government protesters in Egypt of his country's solidarity with them, saying that life could no longer return to normal there, dpa reported.

"The German government stands by those who are calling for democracy and civil and human rights," he said in Berlin before flying to Tel Aviv for talks with the Israeli government.

"We still don't know which way political developments in Egypt will go. But one thing we do know is that nothing can return to the order of the day; nothing will be as it once was," he continued.

Westerwelle is due to hold talks on the current situation in the Middle East and Egypt with his counterpart Avigdor Lieberman.

The demonstrations in Tunisia, Egypt and other parts of the Arab world showed "how important it is that democracy, that human rights, that civil rights are taken seriously," Westerwelle said.

The protests had until now been driven forward by the young and by the middle classes. "That's why reform must follow the words of President (Hosny) Mubarak," he added.

The Foreign Ministry on Sunday raised the severity of its travel warning to Egypt, advising "every traveller to carefully examine whether he wanted to travel to Egypt under the current circumstances."

Many countries have chartered special flights to evacuate their citizens from Egypt, where ongoing protests have reportedly claimed at least 150 lives.

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