During his trip to Washington this week President Mubarak is expected to take the lead in re-launching the once firm Egyptian-US alliance, writes Dina Ezzat Since US President Barack Obama took office in January Egypt has been intent on reclaiming its position as Washington's key ally in the Arab world. It is a goal that President Hosni Mubarak will pursue in Washington, where he is scheduled to arrive on Saturday. The visit, Mubarak's first in five years, includes a summit with Obama on Tuesday. A press statement issued this week by the Foreign Ministery squarely blamed the tensions that have marred recent relations between Cairo and Washington on the policies of the Bush administration. Egyptian officials now hope that the worst is over, and bilateral ties can be placed on a new footing. There is a "a sense of ease", says one diplomat, over the policy of non-interference the Obama administration is adopting vis-�-vis Egypt's domestic affairs. "We have always made it very clear that we will not be bossed around in public when it comes to internal affairs," said the Egyptian diplomat, who asked for his name to be withheld. He added that the Egyptian embassy in Washington had asked administration officials to refrain from issuing public statements on opposition figures and groups in Egypt that could be perceived by the regime or the public as a form of interference. One Egyptian diplomat in Washington reports "a significant change" in the kinds of questions now being asked by the US administration about domestic affairs, including democratization, freedom of worship and expression, and "allegations of human rights violations". "I am not saying that we get no questions. What I am saying is that the aggressive language in which such questions used to be couched has been abandoned," he said. The rights of Copts, the role of the Muslim Brotherhood and of "certain opposition figures" are still areas of concern to the US administration, but they are now being addressed in a lower key. "Obviously we get more aggressive questions from Congress and pressure groups, and that may ultimately influence the style of the administration," said the diplomat. Mubarak is expected to impress on his hosts that Egypt remains committed to a process of gradual democratisation away from Western pressures. According to Egyptian diplomats in Washington, it is a message that is likely to play well with the Obama administration. A US diplomat who spoke to Al-Ahram Weekly from Washington on condition of anonymity, said that the US State Department will continue to "carefully monitor" democratisation and human rights in Egypt and will express its views to Cairo "through diplomatic channels". The faster Egypt moves to democratize, he added, the easier it will be for the administration to get Congress to agree to Egypt's economic requests. Egyptian sources say that Mubarak will also press the idea of establishing an endowment for US economic aid to Egypt, an idea first mooted by Cairo last year. Under the scheme the close to $200 million in economic aid provided by Washington will be matched by a similar Egyptian sum, monies that will be used to fund development projects. However, according to one trade diplomat, neither the administration nor Congress are prepared to adopt the economically- beneficial proposal at present Egyptian diplomats insist meanwhile that the presidential visit is not meant to secure the scheme, but rather to promote it as part of the re-launch of the Egyptian-American Strategic Dialogue that Mubarak is hoping to achieve. Such renewed dialogue may provide the umbrella for discussing the range of Egypt's economic requests. Acting Director of the Egyptian International Economic Forum, Ashraf Swelam, argues that there are many economic issues that Egypt could raise with the administration. A prime objective, he said, is to expand the scope of the Egypt-US- Israel Qualified Industrial Zones (QIZs) while securing a reduction in the proportion of Israeli- produced inputs from slightly over ten per cent to around eight per cent, as is the case with the Jordan-US-Israel QIZ agreement. Another objective, Swelam added, is to expand US investment in Egypt from $7 billion and to diversify beyond the current focus on gas, oil and mining. "We have an investment treaty that was signed with the US in 1991 and it is about time to either upgrade it or negotiate a new treaty covering more areas, including financial services." Swelam also believes the time is ripe for Egypt to broach the issue of debt forgiveness. Currently it must find $650 million a year to service US loans. Swelam argues that for all, or any, of these ideas to materialise, there needs to be active private sector participation. "This is a good time to think of reviving the Egyptian American Business Council and empower it with effective mechanisms," he said. The US, according to the American diplomat, is open to discussions of "all sorts of ideas with our partners in Egypt". Obviously, he adds, securing Congress's agreement to closer economic partnership with Egypt will be helped by a more "positive" engagement of Egypt in promoting stability in the Middle East. Mubarak is scheduled to review progress on re- launching the peace process, especially between Israelis and Palestinians, with Obama. The Mubarak-Obama summit on 18 August will also review the outcome of consultations that the US administration has been undertaking to secure a halt to Israel's illegal construction of settlements in the occupied territories and the results of Egyptian talks with Arab capitals on possible gradual normalisation to accompany the relaunch of conclusive peace talks. The political agenda for the Mubarak talks is also expected to cover Iraq and Sudan and the development of US-Iranian dialogue and its impact on regional stability. (see pp.4&12)
