Egypt appears to have embraced a major shift in the way it conducts foreign policy, writes Dina Ezzat The intensified pace and increased level of Egyptian involvement in managing the current phase of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is just one sign of Cairo's sudden embrace of a more aggressive style of foreign policy. This new -- or in many ways resumed -- style of initiative-based foreign policy may also end up affecting both traditional and non- traditional Egyptian circles of interest, including relations with the Arab world, Europe and the US. The approach, Egyptian diplomats said, is based on a more active administration of bilateral and multilateral relations, the objective of which is raising the profile of Egyptian participation in regional and international issues, as well as maximising the use of Egyptian foreign policy to serve local interests, particularly on the economic front. In the more immediate sense, said one source, the key issues at present -- Palestine, Iraq and Sudan -- "directly affect strategic Egyptian national interests". The Egyptian effort most in the limelight right now is a plan that aims to contain increasing military tension on the eastern Egyptian border by securing a Palestinian-Israeli cease-fire, promoting inter-Palestinian dialogue and overhauling the way the Palestinians administer their foreign relations. President Hosni Mubarak is scheduled to receive Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom next Monday for talks on implementation of the Egyptian plan. In the works for the past eight weeks, the plan's ultimate objective is to encourage an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza as a first step towards the implementation of the roadmap and a resumption of long- suspended Israeli-Palestinian talks. Egyptian Intelligence Chief Omar Solaiman, who has been in direct contact with top Palestinian and Israeli officials, has secured their approval, in principal, of most parts of the plan. The final details are currently being worked out at the highest level, with President Mubarak personally working the phones with the Palestinian president and prime minister, as well as the Israeli prime minister. "President Mubarak is really working hard on this file," said one presidential source. "He is doing much of the work by himself. He wants to secure a breakthrough in the cycle of violence and he wants the situation in Gaza -- and for that matter the rest of the Palestinian territories -- to stabilise." Egyptian authorities, sources said, are planning to send a considerable number of security experts to Gaza to help the Palestinian Authority administer the security situation after the Israeli withdrawal. Earlier this week, Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said, "Egypt is willing to exert every effort to help in securing Israeli withdrawal from any part of the occupied Palestinian territories." Diplomatic sources said Egypt was hoping that as its plan for "stability and dialogue" on the Palestinian-Israeli front was being ironed out, it might also be able to secure an end to the "house arrest" that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has imposed on Palestinian President Yasser Arafat since March 2002. "This is a long shot," said one informed Egyptian source, "and Arafat is not exactly being cooperative." According to Egyptian sources, Cairo is hoping that Arafat will agree to transfer a significant amount of decision- making power to Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei, who has thus far been a mere figurehead. This, they said, might encourage the Israeli prime minister to allow Arafat "some sort of freedom of movement". Egypt is also working hard to secure improvements in overall inter-Arab relations, as well as a higher level of Arab commitment to the Arab League. Sources said that President Mubarak has been taking an extremely hands-on approach with this file as well. Hardly a day goes by, one source said, without the president speaking to a number of Arab leaders about these issues. Mubarak's personal participation in the Arab summit last month was another example of this approach. The objective is not only the coordination of a collective Arab stance on matters related to Palestine and Iraq, but securing a collective Arab reaction to several Western proposals -- some of which may be formally introduced during next week's G8 summit -- on reform in the Middle East as well. Cairo is also working with the Arab League on a proposed Iraqi meeting that should offer a boost to other regional and international efforts aiming to induce stability in Iraq. The proposal is for the meeting to be held in the Egyptian capital later this month. Developments in Palestine and Iraq were key issues discussed during Mubarak's visits to Romania and Russia last week. In Bucharest and Moscow, Mubarak stressed Egypt's determination to work with all interested members of the international community to achieve progress on these two files. Egypt is also resuming its involvement in the Sudan file. Late last week, Cairo offered a mostly lukewarm welcome to the recent peace deal between the Sudanese government and its southern militant opposition. "Egypt cannot be expected to warmly welcome a deal that could ultimately lead to the division of Sudan into a northern Arab state and a southern non-Arab state when the Sudanese hold a referendum in six years regarding the unity of their country," said one Egyptian diplomat. At the same time, he said, Egypt will no longer distance itself from developments in Sudan. On Tuesday, Egyptian Permanent Representative to the UN Ahmed Abul-Gheit said that Egypt has agreed "in principal" to take part in the UN's international observers mission that will be sent to Sudan. Speaking in New York, Abul-Gheit said that the move was meant to underline Egypt's commitment to all efforts meant to secure peace and stability in Sudan. Egypt is also busy trying to increase its level of economic cooperation with different regional groupings, including the European Union, with which its partnership agreement is going into effect. Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Fayza Abul-Naga also said, "President Mubarak is demonstrating an unmistakable interest in promoting Egyptian- African relations on all fronts." One Egyptian diplomatic source said it was "very obvious that we are now going for a more active pace". There is a mounting awareness in Cairo, the source said, that the increasingly alarming developments in the region require an increasingly intensified diplomatic effort on Egypt's part. Diplomats and observers alike predicted that even more signs of this new foreign policy mood would appear in the next few days.
