Last week's strategic dialogue between the US and Egypt is set to become an annual event, reports Gamal Essam El-Din Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit led the Egyptian delegation to Washington that last week completed a series of strategic dialogue meetings with US officials, led by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The dialogue, which follows those of 1998 and 1999, was held at Rice's request. In the light of recent political and economic developments in the region, said the official statement, both Washington and Cairo thought it was time to recommence the dialogue, with the aim of identifying their positions over these developments. The two sides agreed that the dialogue should be resumed annually and alternate between Cairo and Washington. They also decided to establish three committees to tackle joint political, economic and security issues. The Egyptian delegation also held meetings outside the State Department, with prominent congressmen, including Richard Lugar, chairman of the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee, and Senator Chuck Hagel. Abul-Gheit also met National Security Adviser Stephen Hadly. The Egyptian delegation included Rachid Mohamed Rachid, minister of trade and industry, Fayza Abul-Naga, minister of state for international cooperation, and Omar Suleiman, chief of General Intelligence. Nabil Fahmi, Egypt's ambassador in Washington, and Francis Ricciardone, the US ambassador in Cairo, also participated. Although the two sides said the dialogue was productive several areas of disagreement emerged, mostly in the areas of foreign policy and political reform, though economic reform and trade also presented a number of thorny issues. Israel's bombardment of Lebanon, which began during the delegation's visit, inevitably meant that foreign policy issues would top the agenda, with Abul-Gheit calling for an immediate ceasefire and Rice insisting that a ceasefire can be implemented only when conditions allow. Differences over Lebanon have continued, with Rice reiterating the US position during her visit to the Middle East which took in Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority and Israel, but none of Washington's key Arab allies. Mohamed Bassiouni, Egypt's former ambassador to Israel and now chair of the Shura Council's Foreign and Arab Relations Committee, believes US-Egyptian differences over Lebanon are not "dramatic". "Remember both countries agree the Lebanese government should have control of all Lebanese territories and implement Security Council Resolution 1559," he said. Egypt's decision to participate in the Rome conference on Lebanon was also, he argued, a sign that Egypt is working closely with the US. But Washington's unequivocal support of Israel does, he conceded, cause embarrassment for Egypt and America's other Arab allies: "Fanatic Arab nationalists and Islamists always cite Egypt's close ties with Washington in their attempts to paint the regime as an American puppet." Following his meeting with Rice, Abul-Gheit said Washington remained appreciative of Egypt's efforts to secure peace in the Middle East. Officials from the two countries discussed the situation in Gaza, Iraq, Sudan and Somalia as well as Iran's nuclear ambitions and the war on terror. Political reform in Egypt was perhaps the most sensitive issue on last week's agenda. Harvey Sicherman, president of the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia, believes there is a consensus among American policymakers and congressmen that Egypt is not moving fast enough towards democratisation. "Many believe Egypt's steps towards democratisation in 2005 were little more than a sham, a tactic aimed at deflecting American pressure," he said. Sicherman argues that Egypt's sluggishness in embracing democratic reform has caused the US administration a lot of embarrassment in Congress. "As a result," he says, "there is resistance in Congress to concluding a free trade agreement with Egypt, while several members have tried to cut annual aid to Egypt and set aside large amounts to fund pro-reform civil society organisations." "It is not a secret," he continued, "that many members of the administration believe that the regime in Egypt administered a systematic crackdown on liberal politicians -- notably Ayman Nour -- to send out the message that Islamists would be the only alternative should President Mubarak lose power." Scott Hubli, director of governance programmes at the National Democratic Institute (NDI), believes it is the question of political reform that lay behind US requests for the dialogue in the first place. "The Bush administration wants to know what Egypt's agenda is. Recent anti-democratic moves have caused it a lot of embarrassment in Congress and the press," he said. Last month the government closed down the NDI's office in Cairo. "In recent months Egypt has witnessed a crackdown on journalists, dissent movements, reformist judges, the arrest of liberals such as Ayman Nour and the extension of the emergency law, and all of these are bad for Egypt's image in Washington and the West." Hubli told Al-Ahram Weekly that NDI has been told by the Egyptian government that its office in Cairo will be able to reopen soon and "we hope this time the government will live up to its promise". Economic issues were also high on last week's agenda. In contrast with political reform, Egypt's economic liberalisation policies have been met with Washington's wholehearted approval. Trade Minister Rached said the delegation had made it clear that President Bush's vision of a broad free trade area between America and the Middle East by 2013 could never be realised without Egyptian participation. While many members of US Congress believe that a free trade agreement between America and Egypt should be linked to Cairo's progress in implementing political reform, the Egyptian delegation rejected any linkage. Rachid also said the dialogue covered issues such as investment, technology transfer, Qualified Industrial Zones and intellectual property rights. Last year witnessed growing levels of Egyptian exports to the US. "In 2005, they increased by 90 per cent and in the first quarter of this year by 40 per cent," said Rachid, who argued that "this growth is evidence that Egypt now boasts many highly competitive exporters."
