CAIRO - Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak insisted in talks with his Algerian counterpart Abdelaziz Bouteflika on Monday that a solution in Lebanon would ease strained ties between Arab states, his spokesman said.

"Inter-Arab relations... are not passing through the best of times... Lebanon is the stepping stone to improving these ties," spokesman Suleiman Awad quoted Mubarak as saying.

Bouteflika was in Cairo after attending an Arab summit in Syria which ended on Sunday after failing to make any breakthrough towards solving Lebanon's political crisis.

Mubarak was among several heavyweight US-allied Arab leaders, including Saudi King Abdullah, who boycotted the summit in Damascus, which they blame for blocking a presidential election in Lebanon.

Beirut has been without a president since November, amid long-running deadlock between the Western-backed government and the Hezbollah-led opposition, backed by Syria and Iran.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told the summit that his country was not meddling in Lebanese affairs. -AFP