Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak held talks with U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, who made a lightening visit to Egypt on Sunday, over regional issue with different focuses, the official news agency MENA reported.

According to Egyptian presidential spokesman Suleiman Awad, Cheney was "much interested in the Iraqi situation, the security of the Gulf and Iran's nuclear program while Mubarak focused on breaking the stalemate in the Mideast peace process."

Talks also covered the situation in Afghanistan and Darfur, Awad said, adding that Mubarak-Cheney talks were frank and were held in a friendly atmosphere.

Mubarak told Cheney that any American-European effort to deal with Iraq or Iran would be futile unless peace efforts were advanced towards realizing some political horizon for the Palestinians.

Cheney was visiting the Mideast region "with set priorities, from Iraq and the Gulf to confrontation with Iran," Awad said.

Egypt's priority, however, was "to push the Mideast process forward and ease the sufferings of the Palestinians through deeds, not mere words," the spokesman said.

Mubarak always stressed the importance of dialogue and giving enough time to the Palestinians and Israel to reconcile and warned that any military confrontation would have unforeseen repercussions for the region and beyond, Awad added.

Awad, meanwhile, revealed that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would return to the region next month for a meeting of the International Quartet, which groups the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia.

A meeting of the Arab Quartet, namely Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, may be held at the same time, Awad said.

The spokesman also said Mubarak expressed support for the political process in Iraq while stressing that the success of this process mainly depended on achieving reconciliation in Iraq.

Mubarak told Cheney that the Iraqi situation was "a real problem because as long as there are foreign troops in Iraq, there will be resistance," according to the spokesman.

Yet Mubarak was opposed to an immediate withdrawal of foreign troops. "If these forces pull out now before Iraqi forces are qualified enough to take over responsibility, the situation might get out of control," said Mubarak.

Mubarak said unity was the only way to bring about reconciliation in Iraq that would pave the way for achieving security and stability, withdrawal of foreign troops and restoring Iraq's sovereignty.

Before talks with Cheney, Mubarak said that reports on Egypt's decision to drop Iraqi debts were inaccurate.

In an interview with the state-run daily al-Messa, which was carried by MENA, Mubarak said no decision was taken on this issue" since these funds are owned by the Egyptian people."

"These debts are not owed by the Egyptian government, (instead),they are owed by Egyptian nationals," said Mubarak, without giving more details.

At an international conference on Iraq held in Egypt's Red Sea resort Sharm el-Sheikh early this month, media reports cited a senior Iraqi official as saying that Egypt has agreed to forgive800-million-U.S. dollar debts owed by Iraq.

Cheney flew in for a several hours visit to Egypt after visiting Saudi Arabia on Saturday. Egypt was the fourth leg of his regional tour, which has also taken him to Iraq and UAE and will further take him to Jordan.

Cheney started his Middle East tour on May 9 in the hope of encouraging Washington's Arab allies to help stabilize Iraq and deal with a rising Iran.