In Washington, Khaled Dawoud relays Foreign Minister Abul-Gheit's rejection of meddling in Egypt's domestic affairs, and emphasis on reviving the peace process as the only way out of the current chaos in Palestine Following talks with US Vice-President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit said both had expressed "understanding" of Cairo's position opposing a recent bill passed by the House of Representatives setting conditions on the payment of $200 million of the $1.3 billion Washington annually provides Egypt in military aid. Abul-Gheit told reporters that, "Cheney understood the need for the existence of active and healthy relations between Egypt and the United States that go beyond the conditions" included in the House bill passed on 22 June, adding that Rice had "confirmed her understanding of Egypt's position, stated that she did not want to see the conditions in the final bill, and that she will work within the administration to confront this issue." Abul-Gheit, who arrived in Washington on 9 July for a two-day visit that also included talks with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, was referring to an item in the House Appropriations Act for 2008, that under the title "Assistance for Egypt" states that of "the funds appropriated by this Act for Egypt under the heading 'Foreign Military Financing Program', $200 million shall not be made available for obligation until the Secretary of State certifies and reports to the Committees on Appropriations that the Government of Egypt has taken concrete and measurable steps to: 1- Enact and implement a new judicial authority law that protects the independence of the judiciary; 2- Review criminal procedures and train police leadership in modern policing to curb police abuses; and 3- detect and destroy the smuggling tunnels that lead from Egypt to Gaza." While stressing that "no party has the right to interfere in Egypt's internal affairs, not even at the price of $200 thousand million [sic], and not just $200 million," Abul-Gheit told reporters he remained hopeful that the final Appropriations Act, "due in the next few weeks," would not include the conditions set by the House of Representatives. The House bill still has to be approved by the Senate, which then sends it to the president for approval. According to sources at the Egyptian Embassy in Washington, "the Senate bill is totally clean and does not include any of the ridiculous conditions set by the House." The source added that even should the Senate include conditions, "it will be up to the president to take the decision, and what we have been told so far is that the administration did not support that bill... it proposed the regular annual amounts in the first place, without any strings attached." Wrangling over aid apart, deteriorating conditions in the occupied Palestinian territories, particularly after the Hamas takeover of Gaza, comprised "the central issue in talks", according to one member of the delegation. But there was also room in the nearly two-hour meeting held between Rice and Abul-Gheit for other thorny issues: Iraq, Lebanon, Darfur and Iran. Abul-Gheit said he reiterated in his talks with Rice on Palestine the need to activate the political process that defines the "end game", saying that this "should go parallel with efforts to support Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas". Egypt, Abbas and other Arab countries have been pressing Israel and the US to open negotiations with the Palestinian president on final status issues and not waste the remaining 16 months of the George W Bush administration. Abul- Gheit said the existence of such a process "will strengthen the position of Abbas as well as that of countries seeking peace, and will allow efforts made by Egypt with both Fatah and Hamas to produce tangible results". Despite official appeals from Cairo for renewed dialogue between Fatah and its Hamas rival, Abul-Gheit did not expect contacts to take place any time soon. "Egypt is waiting for the right moment to restart its moves to begin dialogue between the two parties," he said. He also lashed out at Hamas, saying "anyone who denies that what took place in Gaza was a military coup must be blind". Egypt's foreign minister reaffirmed the government's "support for Palestinian legitimacy represented by Mahmoud Abbas, who has adopted a path supported by Egypt", and called on ousted Hamas prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, to restore the situation in Gaza to that which prevailed before 15 June. In his talks with Rice, Abul-Gheit said he had explained the situation along the border between Egypt and Gaza, and the difficulties facing Egyptian security forces whose numbers are limited by the 1979 Camp David peace accord. Egypt "did not request an increase in the numbers of those troops but simply explained the conditions under which Egyptian forces work on the ground". A member of the Egyptian delegation who accompanied Abul-Gheit, and who spoke to Al-Ahram Weekly on condition of anonymity, said the US side "expressed their understanding of our position concerning Palestinian- Israeli peace talks. Yet, we cannot speak of something tangible that we will be able to see immediately on the ground." He added that Rice was "committed, receptive, and said the right things. But there was nothing concrete when it came to our request to head towards the end game." The Egyptian side clarified to US officials its view "that this business of supporting Abu Mazen and making the West Bank a model in order to show the contrast to Gaza under Hamas, was not constructive. There has to be a real political process." Egypt also pointed out in its talks with senior US officials that Washington should not "underestimate the effect of the growing frustration that has spread across the region", said the source. Abul-Gheit's visit preceded a flurry of activity related to the situation in Gaza and efforts by Washington to support the beleaguered Abbas. Rice is heading to Israel and Ramallah on 16 July, on her way to Africa. Members of the Quartet -- the US, Russia, the EU and the UN -- are also intensifying contacts to set a date for a ministerial level meeting to be attended for the first time by Bush's personal friend, former British prime minister Tony Blair, the Quartet's new regional envoy. Abul-Gheit and his Jordanian counterpart, Abdul-Illah Al-Khatib, were both due in Israel today (Thursday) for an unprecedented visit as representatives of the Arab League. They were scheduled to discuss the so-called Arab Initiative approved by the latest Arab League summit in Riyadh, offering Israel full normalisation in return for withdrawal from territories occupied in 1967 and a just solution to the plight of millions of Palestinian refugees. The visit was postponed at the last minute, probably after officials realised it coincided with the first anniversary of the launch of Israel's bombardment of Lebanon. The visit has been rescheduled for 25 July.
