Engaging the EU EGYPT and the Arab League are trying to encourage the European Union (EU) to play a more central role in promoting peace in the Middle East, especially between Palestinians and Israelis. During his visit to Cairo this week, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Mauratinos -- a former EU Envoy to the Middle East -- was encouraged by President Hosni Mubarak and Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa to intensify European efforts in the lead up to the upcoming Palestinian elections, in order to secure Israeli support for these elections and initiate a new momentum for peace talks in the region that might eventually include Syria. "I notice the start of a new atmosphere on the part of the Israelis reflected by pledges to facilitate the Palestinian elections," said presidential spokesman Maged Abdel-Fattah during the press conference that followed Mubarak's meeting with Mauratinos. "We want to play a more central role in encouraging peace in the Middle East, and we are willing to exert every possible effort," Mauratinos said during a joint press conference with Moussa. Over the next few weeks, Mauratinos said, the EU is going to focus on securing an easy and coordinated implementation of the Israeli disengagement plan from Gaza, and "keep on working to make sure that this plan is implemented as part of the roadmap." Javier Solana, the upcoming EU foreign minister, is planning a Middle East trip early in 2005 to float a few EU proposals for peace in the Middle East. European sources suggested that the EU package -- which does not amount to an initiative -- would mainly focus on providing financial and political support for further Israeli withdrawals from Palestinian territories to allow for the establishment of a Palestinian state -- even within provisional borders. Passengers from Baghdad THE EGYPTIAN Diplomatic Institute (EDI), which is affiliated to the Foreign Ministry, is planning a training course for Iraqi diplomats in Cairo next month, EDI sources said. Over 20 Iraqi diplomats are expected to attend. This will be the second training course for Iraqi diplomats offered by EDI. The EDI and the Arab League trained more than 20 other Iraqi diplomats last summer. This training serves as a tool to enhance Cairo-Baghdad relations, especially in view of the limited developments on the diplomatic front as a result of Egyptian hesitation to nominate an ambassador to Baghdad. In fact, the recently assigned Iraqi ambassador to Egypt, Safiya Soheil, came to Cairo last September, but only stayed in town for a few weeks before heading back to Baghdad in a move that some Iraqi diplomats described as a "declaration of disappointment on the Iraqi side". Iraqi diplomatic sources said Baghdad was offended by Cairo's failure to reciprocate and assign an ambassador to Iraq. Iraqi Air, meanwhile, is hoping to resume its flights to Cairo soon. As with the diplomatic exchange, however, Cairo is keeping this issue on the backburner for now, due to security concerns. Another spy story AN IRANIAN diplomat and an Egyptian will be tried before the Higher State Security Court on charges of spying for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and plotting to carry out assassinations in Egypt, Prosecutor-General Maher Abdel-Wahed said on Tuesday. According to the prosecution, the Iranian suspect, Mohamed Reda Hussein, worked at the Iranian interests office in Cairo before fleeing to Iran. The reason for Hussein's departure from Egypt has not been disclosed. Prosecution investigations say the Egyptian suspect, 31-year- old Mahmoud Eid Dabbous, had been providing Hussein with information on various aspects of Egypt. Dabbous, who worked in Saudi Arabia in Qur'anic recitation, was also said to have supplied information to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard that helped in carrying out the attack on a petrochemical site in the Saudi city of Yanbu in May, investigations said. At a press conference on Tuesday, Abdel-Wahed said Dabbous and Hussein plotted a range of attacks with the aim of harming the state's national interests and severing political relations between Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Following his arrest, Dabbous admitted that he had received $50,000 in cash from Hussein and had been promised an additional $1 million if he had staged a terrorist attack in Egypt. Yesterday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamed Reza Asefi told news agencies the accusations were baseless. "The scenario has been prepared under the influence of Iran's enemies," Asefi said. The arrest of Dabbous coincided with the arrest of an Arab- Israeli by Israel on charges of working for Iranian intelligence. The alleged spy, identified as Mohamed Said Ghanem, was reported to be from the West Bank city of Baqa. Reports denied IRAN denied on Monday reports that the Islamic Republic had secretly handed Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya leader Mustafa Hamza, one of Egypt's most wanted Islamists, over to Cairo. "The news about him being delivered to Egyptian officials from Iran is wrong. This person has never been in the Islamic Republic of Iran," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi was quoted as saying by IRNA, the official Iranian news agency. Reports of the handover and Hamza's incarceration in an Egyptian jail first appeared on Sunday. They were based on claims made by Hani El-Sebaie, a well-informed, London-based Egyptian militant who claimed that he had gotten the inside information from members of the group itself. Hamza was first convicted for his involvement in the assassination of late Egyptian President Anwar El-Sadat in 1981, and spent three years in jail. After his release, he was able to escape to Afghanistan where he reportedly stayed until 1998. Hamza has also been sentenced to death in absentia several times, including in the 1992 "Afghanistan Returnees" case, and the 1993 assassination attempt on former information minister Safwat El-Sherif. He was also convicted as the prime perpetrator of the 1995 assassination attempt on President Hosni Mubarak in Addis Ababa. According to El-Sebaie, Hamza has been living in Iran for the past few years, and was handed over to Egypt a few weeks ago as part of a bilateral deal. According to this alleged deal, Egypt would mediate to improve Iran's image with the US, provide the Iranian security apparatus with information on Egyptian-based members of the opposition group Mujahedeen Khalq, and facilitate the establishment of Iranian culture centres in Egypt. As usual, there was no official reaction from Egypt on either the alleged handover or the Iranian denial. EgyptAir's Rayan dies MOHAMED Fahim Rayan, the former chairman of EgyptAir, passed away on Tuesday, reports Amira Ibrahim. Rayan, 76, had been injured in the recent Taba attacks on 7 October, and had been receiving medical treatment at the Maadi Military Hospital ever since. Born in 1928, Rayan graduated from Fouad I University's Faculty of Engineering in 1950. He then joined the Air Force, where he served for more than 30 years. In 1980, Rayan was appointed as general supervisor for EgyptAir, the national carrier, and later became the company's chairman. By the time he retired from the company, 22 years later, its fleet consisted of 39 modern planes, compared to the 14 old aircrafts in operation when he took over in 1980. The small airline had been transformed into a huge company with many regional and international partnerships and alliances. Rayan was awarded several Egyptian military and civil medals, and has been internationally honoured by top civil aviation bodies as well. He was twice chosen as chairman of the African Air Carrier Association, and once served as chairman of the Arab Air Carrier Organisation. Scientist dead FAWZI Hussein Hammad, former chairman of the Atomic Energy Organisation, died of a heart attack on Sunday. Hammad, who was 70, graduated from Alexandria University's Faculty of Engineering in 1957. The late scientist was the first to chair the Nuclear Safety Body since its establishment in the 1980s. He also worked as a consultant for the Vienna-based permanent committee of the International Agency for Atomic Energy.
