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SV Mrs. Thatcher and guide at site of pyramids PAN TO Pyramid
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SV Mrs. Thatcher and party climbing over base of pyramids and looking at area
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GV Mrs. Thatcher on tour of site with pyramid and sphinx in background
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Initials CL/1932 CL/1938



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: British Conservative Party leader, Margaret Thatcher took time off to visit the pyramids on Friday (9 January) during a two-day fact-finding visit to Egypt. Mrs. Thatcher arrived in the capital, Cairo, on Wednesday (7 January) at the beginning of a five-day tour of the Middle East.

The visit to the famous Egyptian pyramids and Sphinx followed a news conference in Cairo during which Mrs. Thatcher was closely questioned on her party's attitude to the Middle East situation and the Palestine Liberation Organisation.

Mrs. Thatcher said any lasting settlement on the Middle East must include the Palestinian problem. She said the core of such a solution should be Israel's withdrawal from occupied Arab territories and a settlement of the refugees' problem, as stipulated in United Nations Security Council resolutions.

Apart from the importance Egypt attached to Mrs. Thatcher as a possible future British Prime Minister, the visit was seen as an appreciation of the attitude taken by the Conservatives towards the Middle East crisis.

Mrs. Thatcher received an unusually warm welcome in Egypt from President Anwar Sadat. Her visit has gained added importance after British Prime Minister Harold Wilson postponed his visit to Cairo a week ago because of parliamentary pressure.

SYNOPSIS: British Conservative Party leader, Margaret Thatcher, took time off from politics on Friday to visit the famous Egyptian pyramids.

Mr. Thatcher -- in Egypt for two days of a five-day Middle East fact-finding tour -- was warmly received int the Egyptian capital Cairo. Apart from the importance Egypt attaches to Mrs. Thatcher as a possible future British Prime Minister, her visit was seen as an indication of the attitude taken by the conservatives towards the Middle East Crisis.

At a news conference in Cairo, Mrs. Thatcher said the Palestinians must be included in a Middle Est settlement.