CAIRO: Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman is in the United States a week after Egypt objected to a draft bill in the US House of Representatives calling for the withholding of $200 million in military aid. Suleiman flew into Washington on Sunday to hold talks with American officials over bilateral issues and the ensuing conflicts in the Middle East, mainly Palestine. He is scheduled to meet officials from the White House, State Department and the CIA. Suleiman plays a diplomatic role for Egypt with Israel and the Palestinian factions as well as the United States. "He is in charge of the Israeli file, Nabil Farouk, a researcher in espionage and intelligence affairs told The Daily Star Egypt. Egypt had refused new conditions attached to a military aid bill by the US House of Representatives, Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit told reporters in Cairo last Tuesday after his US visit. A draft bill from The House Appropriations Committee on Foreign Operations had granted $1.3 billion in military aid to Egypt, but withheld $200 million subject to three conditions: that Egypt improve its human rights record, stop interfering in the judicial system, and tighten security on the Gaza border to prevent arms smuggling. Farouk believes it is possible that Suleiman will address this issue on his visit, attempting to persuade the White House not to pass the bill. "The US president has the right not to sign the bill, he said. "As intelligence chief, he [Suleiman] is involved with aspects of the military structure, Farouk added, "sometimes it is important to show one side the serious repercussions of withholding aid, repercussions they might not have been aware of. Aboul Gheit said the newly-stipulated conditions were a "step backwards in relations between the two countries. Aboul Gheit met with Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during his US visit last week. Both are opposed to the conditions in the bill, Mena news agency reported. Discussions between Suleiman and American officials are also expected to center on the current situation in the Palestinian territories, specifically the fall of the Gaza Strip to Hamas last month. "Every country in the region is worried about another Algeria, Farouk said, "Islamic regimes believe they rule with absolute truths because they believe, wrongly, that they rule in the name of the Prophet and hence in absolute certainty. This is worrying to the countries in the region, he added.
