Egypt is a country which is playing a leading role, but can play an even stronger leading role, particularly if it becomes an open and democratic society, Prime Minister George Papandreou said, yesterday, in an interview with BBC Radio 4 programme, The World At One.

The Premier further said that he is in constant contact with several leaders in the Middle East, including President Hosni Mubarak to whom he conveyed the necessity for transition to democracy without violence, and the desire of the international community as well as of the Egyptian people for specific actions for the transition to democracy