Testing the waters

President Mubarak's visit to the US helped map out future regional and bilateral policy, reports Nevine Khalil from Washington
While the possibility of concrete plans or agreements emerging during President Hosni Mubarak's trip to Washington were downplayed even before Mubarak left Cairo, the Egyptian delegation used the occasion to sound out the new US administration's position on a wide range of issues. "We are going to listen to what the new administration has in mind, and present our perspective," said Foreign Minister Amr Moussa before leaving Cairo.
The Egyptian delegation, which included the foreign, economy, finance and technology ministers, as well as Mubarak's chief political adviser, spent most of their time in an intensive schedule of meetings with their American counterparts, laying the groundwork for the next four years of bilateral relations.
As the first Arab leader to visit Washington since George W Bush was sworn in three months ago, arriving hot on the heels of the Arab summit in Amman, Mubarak focused during his five-day visit on presenting an Arab perspective of the situation in the Middle East. Bush met with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon a fortnight earlier, and is expected to receive Jordan's King Abdullah on 12 April.
On Monday, Mubarak told Bush, whose administration has clearly indicated that it is seeking to partially disengage from peacemaking in the Middle East, that the US must "maximise its efforts" in the peace process to best serve American interests and ensure stability in the region.
During nearly two hours of talks Bush reassured Mubarak that the US would remain "very engaged" in the peace process, though he stopped short of pledging the intense personal effort undertaken by his predecessor Bill Clinton.
"We will use our prestige and influence as best we can to facilitate a peace," Bush told reporters in the Oval Office before going into talks. But at the same time he noted that the US would not "set a timetable that meets our specific needs," further distancing himself from Clinton's urgent efforts to close a deal between the Israelis and Palestinians.
"The only lasting peace is one in which the parties come to the table. We can't force a peace," he said. Mubarak, by his side, agreed: "We are not going to impose a solution on the parties, we are going to facilitate the situation so they can sit together [and] negotiate."
Behind closed doors, Mubarak gave the Americans "a very frank" assessment of the situation in the region, and proposed that a group, including Egyptians, should be charged with coming up with ideas on how to bring the Palestinians and Israelis together and end the current violence.
"We have to make a huge effort to persuade the two parties to come to the negotiating table and abandon this kind of violence," Mubarak said.
Cairo is in constant contact with all players in the stagnant peace process which has all but collapsed as a result of Israel's excessive violence against the six-month Palestinian Intifada. Egypt's chief of intelligence was dispatched to Israel recently to speak with Sharon. "[Sharon] is still forming the ideas for a peace plan. He will show it to me when it is ready," noted Mubarak.
Other political issues on the Egyptian delegation's agenda included sanctions against Libya and Iraq as well as the situation in Sudan. While Egypt is lobbying for the lifting of all sanctions against Iraq, the US has yet to reach "a final definition of the smart sanctions they want to impose," Moussa told reporters following his meeting with Secretary of State Colin Powell on Friday. At the same time Mubarak warned that bombing Iraq serves only to strengthen Saddam Hussein's hold on power.
"The more you bomb him, the stronger he gets," Mubarak said in an interview. He also advised that Washington should stop attempting to overthrow Saddam by backing the opposition in exile. "Forget it. They cannot deliver," he said.
On the bilateral front Egyptian officials and their counterparts brainstormed on ways of cementing economic ties following the end of the Mubarak-Gore initiative.
"We are trying to find a new vehicle to promote economic ties," said Economy Minister Youssef Ghali. US officials, including Trade Representative Robert Zoellick and Secretary of Commerce Don Evans, argued that Egypt needs to make further reforms regarding taxes, tariffs, intellectual property rights, services and telecommunications.
"We want to work closely with the president and his cabinet to improve the overall climate for trade and investment," said Evans. Zoellick agreed, insisting that "the key for a country like Egypt is to make the environment more hospitable for business."
Both sides already see eye to eye on the importance of free markets and the private sector's pivotal role in determining economic policy, and agreed to begin discussions on establishing a framework for free trade and investment. The bilateral council, established under the 1999 US-Egypt Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) will, as was expected, be revived. TIFAs are important starting points for countries seeking a Free Trade Agreement with the US.
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