With several key issues related to regional security at stake, US officials are welcoming President Hosni Mubarak's visit to Texas next week. Khaled Dawoud reports from Washington American officials said there were a number of crucial issues on the agenda of the summit meeting next week between US President George Bush and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. While the Middle East peace process is likely to top the agenda, as Egypt has been deeply involved in recent effort to revive the Palestinian-Israeli political track, the volatile situation in Iraq and the US calls for political and economic reforms in the region will also be discussed by the two leaders. In his first visit to the United States in two years, Mubarak will be hosted by Bush at his private ranch in Crawford, Texas, a courtesy reserved for close US allies. "We look forward to President Mubarak's visit," said US Assistant Secretary of State David Satterfield. "This is an important visit by a strategic ally and a friend," he added. Mubarak's meeting with Bush will mark the beginning of what seems to be serious discussions held by the US president with regional leaders, mainly aimed at ironing out details in Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's proposal to evacuate the Gaza Strip and a few West Bank settlements as a first step towards implementing the internationally-sponsored roadmap. Two days after Bush confers with Mubarak in Crawford, he will meet Sharon at the White House in Washington. On 21 April, he will hold similar talks with Jordan's King Abdullah. In an interview with the Middle East News Agency, Egyptian Ambassador to the US Nabil Fahmi said Mubarak would also meet during his visit with US businessmen and Egyptian, Arab, Muslim and Jewish-American community leaders. He added that although the peace process was the leading issue on the Egyptian agenda, Cairo would also raise several other questions related to regional and bilateral relations. Ambassador Fahmi characterised the visit as "mainly political" and covering "strategic issues". On the bilateral level, the Egyptian ambassador said an agreement has been reached on conditions to grant Egypt $300 million in additional assistance, which was originally approved last year. He added that negotiations did not start yet concerning the US loan guarantees, which could reach $2 billion depending on Egypt's needs. In statements to Arab reporters on Tuesday, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Richard Lugar, said he believed the Quartet -- the international gathering including the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations -- that sponsored the roadmap should be expanded to become a "Sixtet" including Egypt and Saudi Arabia. While echoing views within Israeli and US government circles that Palestinians at this stage lacked a credible leadership, Lugar said both Egypt and Saudi Arabia should be included in Quartet discussions and help establish trusteeship over any Palestinian territories Israel evacuated. Senator Lugar said that although he was aware of Arab mistrust towards US and Israeli intentions, he felt that the evacuation of settlements, if it took place, would be a major achievement. US and Egyptian officials, meanwhile, both denied the existence of any substantial differences between the two countries over the Bush administration's so-called Greater Middle East Initiative, which was leaked to Arab press last month, calling for major economic and political reforms in the region. After several Arab countries expressed reservations over the principle of the US proposing an initiative calling for reform without any prior consultation with the targeted governments, US officials have evidently changed their tone, reiterating in recent statements that they were not seeking to impose reforms on the region, but rather to respond to the needs of its people for democracy and prosperity. In his statements, Senator Lugar joined several other key US officials in praising the recently approved "Alexandria Declaration" in which hundreds of Arab non-governmental organisations and human rights activists provided their own agenda for reform. "I welcome the Alexandria initiative and I think it was a very positive statement which we should encourage," said Senator Lugar. Ambassador Fahmi, meanwhile, affirmed that Egypt did not oppose the call for reform, "but it has actually adopted such a call. Our reservation was to accusing the entire region of failing to carry out reforms, and trying to set a single vision for all its countries despite their differences. But we don't differ on the need for reform." While the Mubarak-Bush meeting came after Arab leaders failed to convene their regular, annual summit in Tunis, deferring a joint Arab proposal outlining steps needed to carry out political and economic reforms, the Egyptian president will likely brief his US counterpart on Egypt's view on the reasons behind the postponement of the Arab summit, and the hoped-for results if the meeting is held next month.
