Washington  - Former British prime minister Tony Blair, the top Mideast envoy for a consortium of world powers, expressed full support Tuesday for Egypt's role in mediating the Gaza conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant movement Hamas.

In an interview with broadcaster CNN, Blair said that the most important goal was to come up with "a credible plan to stop the smuggling" of weapons from Egypt into Gaza to Hamas militants.

Riyadh - Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak arrived to Riyadh Tuesday in a one-day visit to discuss means to halt attacks on Gaza with Saudi officials, media reports said.

Mubarak will meet with Saudi King Abdullah during the previously- unannounced visit, Middle East News Agency reported.

The talks will also include means to develop bilateral relations between the two countries.

Cairo - A group of Arab and international journalists left Cairo for the Egyptian-Gazan border Tuesday in an attempt to break the media blockade on the strip, one of the organizers told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

The group includes 13 journalists from the US, Egypt, France, Morocco, Sudan, and Qatar, said Hagar Samouni, research coordinator in the Doha Centre for Media Freedom and one of the organizers of the trip.

"The trip is a show of solidarity with our Palestinian colleagues who are deprived of the basic tools they need to carry out their duties," French journalist Zeinab al-Ghazawy told dpa.

Cairo - Egyptian security forces detained at least 60 members of the Muslim Brotherhood Monday in the Nile Delta city of Damanhour during a protest organized by the group in support of Gazans, security and Muslim Brotherhood sources told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

A security source, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak with the media, said that "around 60" people had been arrested.

Cairo/Jerusalem, Jan. 12 : Iran has warned Hamas not to accept the Egyptian proposal for a cease-fire with Israel.

An Egyptian government official told The Jerusalem Post by phone that two senior Iranian officials who visited Damascus recently warned Hamas leaders against accepting the proposal.

He said Ali Larijani, Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, and Said Jalili of the Iranian Intelligence Service, met Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal and Islamic Jihad Secretary-General Ramadan Shallah.

His remarks came as Hamas representatives met in Cairo with Egyptian Intelligence Chief General Omar Suleiman and his aides to discuss ways of ending the fighting in the Gaza Strip.

Cairo - The Egyptian government said Monday that it had made progress in its talks with the militant Palestinian Hamas organization, the official MENA news agency reported.