| |
 |
Mubarak heads for Europe
|
EGYPTIAN President Hosni Mubarak left Cairo on Tuesday morning local time for Germany to start his three-nation European tour to discuss the worsening Mideast situation with leaders of these countries and ways to improve bilateral ties, the state-run Middle East News Agency reported.
During his two-day visit to Germany, Mubarak will hold talks with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on the latest developments in the Mideast peace process, as well as ways of increasing German investments in Egypt as well as Egypt's exports to Germany.
Germany is Egypt's top trading partner in Europe and the third in the world.
On April 25, Mubarak will go to Bucharest to discuss with Romanian leaders the Mideast situation and ways of promoting bilateral relations, especially in the economic field.
A day later, Mubarak will begin his three-day visit to Russia, where he will meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to review the dangerous developments in the Middle East amid Israeli aggressive policy and give an impetus to the bilateral relations.
Egypt is now expecting the European Union (EU) and Russia, a co-sponsor of the Mideast peace process, to play a bigger role in promoting Palestinian-Israeli peace talks as US President George W Bush intends to step back from his predecessor Bill Clinton's active mediating role.
Mubarak's trip to the three European countries "is of great importance" as he will explore ways of boosting the European role in the Middle East and seek support for an Egyptian-Jordanian initiative on ending the nearly seven-month-old Palestinian-Israeli bloody clashes, Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa said on Monday.
The Arab world is keen on activating both the EU and Russia's role in helping salvage the Mideast peace process, which has been stalled since the eruption of the new wave of Palestinian-Israeli conflict last September, said Moussa, adding that the dangerous situation in the region has made it imperative to co-ordinate US-EU-Russian efforts.
In anther development, Israeli and Palestinian security officials on Monday night ended another session of security talks without result, Israel Radio reported.
Israel Radio quoted a Palestinian source as saying the talks, aimed at ending the ongoing conflicts between the two sides, failed to make any progress.
|
|
|
|
