CAIRO: Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit returns from a visit to the United States today after meetings with high ranking officials as well as members of Congress. The comprehensive agenda, which explored many facets of Egypt-US relations, included a meeting between Aboul Gheit and US Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and American National Security advisor Stephen Hadley. Additionally, Aboul Gheit met numerous members of Congress involved in Egypt-US relations from the Senate. Meetings were held with the foreign relations committee, the armed forces committee and the appropriations committee. The foreign minister also met officials from previous administrations, both Democrats and Republicans over a working dinner organized by the Egyptian embassy in Washington. Prior to his July 8 visit, Aboul Gheit had met American Ambassador to Egypt Francis Ricciardone on July 5 in Cairo to lay the groundwork for the US visit. Talks were comprehensive in their scope, covering bilateral, regional and international issues which concern both countries. On the same day, Aboul Gheit had met with the EU Envoy to the Middle East Peace Process Marc Otte, where he had called on all Palestinian factions to resolve their stand-off through dialogue and negotiations. The Palestinian territories are divided after clashes between rival factions, with Hamas seizing control of the Gaza Strip and Fatah ruling over the West Bank. The Foreign Ministry announced that Aboul Gheit and his Jordanian counterpart Abdallah Al-Khatib will visit Israel in the upcoming weeks to push for a resolution to the current malaise in the Palestinian territories. Aboul Gheit had stated that the Israeli military escalation in the Gaza Strip further complicated the situation and called on Israel to conduct more peaceful manoeuvres such as returning seized custom and tax revenues to the Palestinians. Additionally, the EU announced that the Quartet (US, EU, UN and Russia) would convene in July with the "Arab Quartet of Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Regarding the minister's impending visit to Israel, Diaa Rashwan from Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies told The Daily Star Egypt, "At the end of the day, any negotiation now will not be in Arab interests because of the division in Palestine. "The priority, he added, "is to solve the problem in Palestine. [This visit] is effort in the wrong direction. Israel benefits the most in the current situation, because it has the upper hand in negotiations.
