President Hosni Mubarak is heading to the US for talks with the Bush Administration on new tactics to restore stability to the region, reports Soha Abdelaty The announcement of President Hosni Mubarak's 5 June trip to the US took many by surprise, mainly because it comes only three months after his annual Washington visit in March. This time, however, the focus will not be on US- Egyptian relations but vital issues directly related to the Arab-Israeli peace process. Mubarak will be meeting US President George W Bush at Camp David as the US administration seeks Egypt's input on how best to move forward on the bumpy road to calm and stability in the region. The agenda for the talks include hammering out new security arrangements between the Palestinians and Israelis, mapping out a path to negotiations in light of the Arab peace initiative, holding an international conference for all concerned parties, and the reform of the Palestinian Authority (PA). "The timing of the visit," said Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher on Saturday, "is very important since the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people continues, and efforts are still being exerted to put an end to that situation and to open the path to serious negotiations." Maher postulated that, "At a time when a new international position is being formulated [regarding the peace process], it is important that the voice of Egypt is heard strongly in the US." Because the visit's focus will mainly be the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, even the thorny issue of a possible US strike on Iraq is not on the agenda. Or, as Maher told the Weekly, "It [the summit] will deal with other problems in the area if there is enough time." The Washington trip will also be taking place in the wake of meetings between Mubarak and a number of officials touring the region in the coming few days. These include US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Edward Burns, German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, and the EU's foreign policy chief Javier Solana and peace envoy Miguel Moratinos. The invitation to Camp David came three weeks ago, after numerous phone calls between Bush and Mubarak over the past few months. "Both presidents agreed that it was time for another meeting, face to face because of the importance of the issues involved," US Ambassador to Cairo David Welch said. But the busy schedules of both Mubarak and Bush meant that next week was the earliest convenient time to meet. Observers note that the Bush invitation was the US president's way of getting Egypt more involved in the peace process, after the Saudi initiative had grabbed both the headlines and attentions of all the parties involved. The invitation came around the same time that Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia met with Bush at his Texas ranch. After Abdullah's visit, Israel ended its siege of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and soon thereafter resolved the Church of Nativity stand-off. "President Mubarak has a very strong responsibility in this region," noted Welch. "We count on his involvement." Egypt was called upon recently to assist US officials in formulating security arrangements between the Palestinians and Israelis. Egypt's role in security arrangements has traditionally been that of "facilitator for implementation". In other words, the US would formulate a security plan, and then ask Egypt to facilitate implementation of these ideas, as was the case with the Tenet plan. The US ambassador conceded that this had indeed been the procedure, but -- given the difficult situation on the ground -- things were changing. "Now everyone is doing their part and we would like Egypt's input on this," Welch said. According to both the Egyptians and Americans, Mubarak is not going to Camp David with new ideas; officials also downplayed reports that there is an Egyptian-American initiative in the works. "I don't want to use the word 'initiative'," Maher said on Saturday. "There are clear Egyptian views and positions and it is useful [for the US] to hear them again with wider and deeper analysis." Welch told the Weekly that the summit is expected to run along two main tracks. Both presidents are likely to agree upon "a security [package] that works and restores calm and completely denounces terrorism", he said. They will also be drawing a path for political negotiations, in the framework of the Arab initiative recently endorsed by all the Arab states at the Beirut summit in March. "Egypt plays a leadership role in bringing other Arab states to endorse the Arab League initiative," said Welch. The talks will also focus on both the idea of an international conference for peace in the Middle East, as well as the possibilities of reforming the Palestinian Authority. Cairo believes that while reforming the PA is an important endeavour, the initiative should come from within the Palestinian Authority itself. "The Palestinians have drawn many lessons from the last few months," noted Maher. "They have embarked, under the leadership of President Yasser Arafat, on a programme of reform. Everybody should understand that any attempt to impose changes on a foreign government is both reprehensible and unacceptable." Regarding a restructure of the PA, US Ambassador Welch said that both Egypt and the US "are concerned about re- organising the Palestinian community, both politically and [in order to allow] economic and humanitarian assistance". He described Egypt's efforts in this area as "laudable". As for the international conference idea, Welch indicated that although he doesn't expect the two leaders to discuss the details of the conference, the issue itself will definitely be raised. For his part, Maher noted that the Americans have not yet reached a decision on the conference's possible make-up, venue and agenda. Information reaching him, Maher said, indicates that the gathering will be a "meeting" rather than a "conference".
