20101212
reuters

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's foreign minister said on Saturday information released by the WikiLeaks website showed there was no contradiction between Egyptian officials' public and private statements, the state news agency reported.

Leaked U.S. diplomatic cables show Egypt to be anxious about Iran's influence over its Hezbollah and Hamas proxies and groups like Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood.

One said Egypt had lobbied for a delay in the referendum for South Sudan's independence.

"All the U.S. diplomatic cables leaked on the Wikileaks site and that talk about Egypt prove that what Egyptian officials say in closed meetings is what they say in public," MENA news agency quoted Ahmed Aboul Gheit as saying at a joint news conference with his Australian counterpart.

"This shows the strength of Egypt's position," he added. "These leaks are the tip of the iceberg, therefore it's too early to comment on them .... not necessarily everything we read is true."

The government had previously made no comment on WikiLeaks.

On Friday WikiLeaks released a cable in which the U.S. Ambassador to Cairo Margaret Scobey said President Hosni Mubarak, in power since 1981, was likely to run for a sixth term in 2011, "inevitably" win and stay in office until he dies.

Egypt, the Arab world's most populous nation, is due to hold its second multi-candidate poll for the presidency next year. Mubarak has not yet said if he will seek a sixth term next year.