Minister of Foreign Affairs, Emigration and Egyptian Expatriates Badr Abdelatty and his Japanese counterpart Yoko Kamikawa underlined on Sunday the importance of avoiding escalation in the region and stepping up efforts in cooperation with regional and international partners to avoid a regional war that would jeopardize security and stability of the region. The meeting between the two top diplomats took place on the sidelines of their participation in the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD). Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said the two ministers underlined the need to continue efforts to cease fire in Gaza, release detainees and allow unrestricted and unconditional access of humanitarian assistance into the Gaza Strip to put an end to the catastrophic humanitarian conditions of the Palestinians. The spokesman said Japanese foreign minister's keenness on meeting Abdelatty for the second time during her visit to Japan to discuss the latest developments in the Middle East r egion on back of the latest escalation between Israel and Hezbullah reflects the important role played by Egypt since the eruption of Gaza war and Japan's keenness on achieving peace in the region and avoiding escalation. Source: State Information Service Egypt