President Hosni Mubarak will resume today his expanded meetings of political activity with Dr. Ahmed Nazif, Prime Minister, Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Industry Minister, and Minister Omar Suleiman, Head Of Intelligence, and key members of the People's Assembly and Shura Council to examine the US-Egyptian relations, and provide guidance to the Egyptian delegation which will travel to Washington, for consultation on the issue of peace and the situation in the Middle East. Al-Masry Al-Youm has learned that the president has appointed Rashid Mohamed Rashid, Minister of Trade and Industry, to join Ahmed Abul-Gheit, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Omar Suleiman to visit the United States, which is scheduled to begin tomorrow, to discuss bilateral relations between the two countries, trade and investment, in the light of the openness of the new U.S. administration. A U.S. delegation arrived in Cairo late Thursday, the first of the batch of the delegation accompanying President Obama, and the delegation includes four senior officials of the White House, and it is scheduled for other delegates to arrive in Cairo in the coming period to prepare for the June 4 visit. The sources at the U.S. embassy in Cairo said that the delegation is part of the introduction, which is usually preceded by American officials' visits to Egypt. It added that the embassy will work with this delegation to prepare for the U.S. president's visit on Monday, because Sunday is an official holiday for employees of the embassy to mark Independence Day. Obama is trying, through his speech in Cairo, to improve relations between the United States and the Islamic world. Richard Wolf in 'Newsweek' uncovered in his new book that Obama was seeking to hold an 'Islamic summit,' and Wolf said on behalf of the American President: "I think that if I held an Islamic summit I will be able to relate to them about the fact that I respect their culture, and I understand their religion as I lived in a Muslim country." While Cairo is preparing to receive Obama, the 'Washington Post' article on Tuesday said that: "democracy advocates in Egypt are hoping to have Obama emphasize in his speech his support of the aspirations of the Egyptian people to seek their freedom and fundamental rights." The newspaper added, in an article written by Dina Guirguis that despite the fact that Egypt is a 'historical site' to make such a speech from it, Obama has to take into account a number of basic facts, including a severe shortfall in democracy and human rights, which distorted the political arena in Egypt over the past several years, pointing to the continuation of the emergency law and political arrests.
