Diplomatic sources told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the main objective of Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit's trip to the United States and meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is to prepare for President Hosni Mubarak's visit in April. The sources said the second objective is to support the Gaza Reconstruction Conference that would be held in Egypt on March 2, which Clinton has accepted to attend. They added that the third objective is to convince the American administration of the Egyptian and Arab point of view as regards the case of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, suggesting to freeze the International Criminal Tribunal's decision for one year for Khartoum and other Arab capitals to come up with guarantees to improve the security and humanitarian situation in Darfur, in addition to trying those found guilty of war crimes. They have related the third objective to Abul-Gheit and Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman planning to visit Khartoum in a few hours. The Middle East News Agency quoted Abul-Gheit as saying that he is satisfied with the new administration's approach to the peace talks between the Palestinian and Israeli sides, adding that the U.S. understands that the problem of the settlements must stop.
