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Al-Ahram Weekly 22 - 28 April 1999 Issue No. 426 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 22 - 28 April 1999 Issue No. 426
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Special Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Briefs
Bouteflika welcomed
EGYPT is steering clear from any involvement in the ongoing debate about the circumstances surrounding the Algerian presidential elections.Foreign Minister Amr Moussa, answering reporters' questions on Sunday, said: "I would like to congratulate Abdel-Aziz Bouteflika, the president-elect, whose leadership Egypt hopes will bring progress and stability to Algeria."
Moussa also praised Algeria's outgoing President Lamine Zeroual, "under whose leadership Algeria managed to realise much progress".
No future with Netanyahu
EGYPT has denounced the Israeli reoccupation of the Lebanese border village of Arnoun. Speaking to reporters, Foreign Minister Amr Moussa said that "Egypt condemns this occupation as well as Israel's expansionist practices that underline the anti-peace intentions of Israeli policy."Moussa also criticised the "illegal and illegitimate" expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Asked if he could see an end to these policies following the upcoming Israeli elections, Moussa did not sound very optimistic. "If [Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu is re-elected, will that mean that his policies up to 17 May [the day of the elections] will be changed on 18 May? I wonder," Moussa said. The foreign minister added: "In case either [the Labour leader Ehud] Barak or [the Centre candidate Yitzhak] Mordechai is elected, then we hope to see immediate action [to revive the peace process] because so much time has been lost."
'Kosovars must return'
EGYPT objected this week to NATO plans to provide Kosovar refugees with temporary resettlement in other countries. "The problem of the refugees of Kosovo can only be solved by ensuring their immediate and safe return to their homes under international supervision," said Foreign Minister Amr Moussa. He added that any attempt to resettle the Kosovars away from their homeland, even on a temporary basis, and particularly in countries that are geographically remote, should be viewed as "an effort to liquidate the Kosovo issue with the aim of serving the interests of other powers".The foreign minister said that "temporary resettlement" is "a bad phrase". If applied to the Kosovars, it would lead them to the same sad destiny of others who went through the same experience before them, Moussa added, in an obvious allusion to Palestinian refugees.
Egypt is closely following the developments in Kosovo. This week, Moussa received a detailed report from Hani Khallaf, Egypt's ambassador to Belgrade, who had been summoned back to Cairo for security concerns. Sources say that the report explained Belgrade's position that the NATO air strikes should stop to open the way for a political solution. The report also gave some very distressing details about the plight of the Kosovars.
Meanwhile, Egypt, under the umbrella of the Kosovo Contact Group of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, will continue efforts to pursue a diplomatic solution of the crisis. The efforts will focus on supporting the initiative made by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
Flight to Tripoli
THE FIRST EgyptAir flight since UN sanctions on Libya were suspended landed in Tripoli on Sunday night, but officials said arrangements for scheduled flights still had to be worked out.The Airbus 300 carried 130 passengers, mainly members of parliament, EgyptAir officials and media representatives.
Namibian visit
THE PRESIDENT of Namibia, Sam Nujoma, is expected to arrive in Cairo on 13 May for a two-day visit."We have good relations with Namibia and we hope that this presidential visit will further promote relations, particularly cooperation in dealing with the many inter-African disputes," said Ali Hassan, assistant to the foreign minister for African affairs. "We also expect the talks between the president of Namibia and President Hosni Mubarak and other top state officials to focus on the evolving economic cooperation between the two countries," he added.
Ivanov in Cairo
RUSSIAN Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov is expected to hold talks with Foreign Minister Amr Moussa in Cairo tomorrow evening. The talks will touch on a wide range of Middle Eastern and international issues, particularly the Kosovo crisis and regional peacemaking.Moussa has welcomed the visit. "It is an important visit by the foreign minister of Russia, which is an important power with a key role to play," he said.
In the Kosovo crisis, Moussa said, Russia can be influential given its close relations with Belgrade.
Ivanov, Moussa added, will be received by President Hosni Mubarak on Saturday.
IOR partnership
UPON its request, Egypt has been granted a partnership status in the Indian Ocean Ramp (IOR). Through this status, Egypt will be able to participate in all IOR political meetings and many economic activities, but it will have no voting rights.Diplomatic sources say that Egypt's association with the group -- which includes India -- will give Cairo an additional strategic and economic edge.
Egypt is following a policy which aims at widening the scope of its regional activities. With this in mind, an Egyptian delegation took part as an observer in a meeting held in Libya last week of the Economic Community of the African Sahil and Sahara States.
