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Al-Ahram Weekly 13 - 19 May 1999 Issue No. 429 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 13 - 19 May 1999 Issue No. 429
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Message from Amman
Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Features Books Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters PRESIDENT Hosni Mubarak received on Sunday a message from Jordan's King Abdullah, which was conveyed by Jordanian Parliament Speaker Abdel-Hadi Al-Majali. The message dealt with bilateral relations and promoting cooperation between the two countries on regional issues, particularly Middle East peace-making.
Mubarak and Al-Majali discussed the status of the peace process, "especially the complications made by Israel and the suffering of the Palestinian people", the Jordanian official said. "We always come to Egypt to learn from the experience of our Egyptian brothers."
Al-Majali had arrived in Cairo on Friday for talks with Mubarak, Parliament Speaker Fathi Sorour and Foreign Minister Amr Moussa.
Sorour, who met Al-Majali on Saturday, said the visit will "propel ties between the parliaments of both countries". The two speakers said they were dissatisfied with the performance of the Arab Parliamentary Union (APU), expressing hope that it would play a more effective role, drawing on the experience of the European Parliament.
Following a meeting with Moussa on Sunday, Al-Majali was asked about the significance of a recent visit paid to Israel by Maj. Gen. Mohamed Al-Abbadi, head of Jordanian military intelligence, despite opposition from the Jordanian parliament. He replied, "There is a peace treaty between Israel and Jordan. This treaty imposes certain commitments. Official relations between the two countries will continue. What parliament is calling for is the suspension of non-governmental normalisation between Jordan and Israel."
EGYPT on Sunday conveyed condolences to the Chinese government and people for the loss of Chinese lives in the NATO bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade last week.
"In the name of President Hosni Mubarak and the Egyptian government, I would like to express our sincere condolences to China for the loss of life," Foreign Minister Moussa said. He added, "We hope that such incidents will not recur; we hope to see the Kosovo crisis settled through political means, within the framework of the United Nations and according to the recently concluded agreement by the [G-7 and Russia]."
Also on Sunday, Chinese journalists working in Egypt delivered a letter to the US Embassy in Cairo protesting against the NATO bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia.
AMBASSADOR Ahmed Abul-Gheit, Egypt's new permanent representative to the United Nations, will fly to New York today to assume his new responsibilities.
Earlier this week, Abul-Gheit was received by President Hosni Mubarak. "The president gave me directives on the priorities of Egypt's diplomatic mission at the UN," Abul-Gheit said.
EGYPT and Tunisia are planning to hold a joint economic seminar in Cairo early next month. According to Youssef Maqdim, the Tunisian ambassador to Cairo, the objective of this seminar, which will be attended by the trade ministers of both sides and over 60 businessmen, is to further crystallise ways of bilateral economic cooperation. This cooperation has already witnessed significant progress since the implementation of the terms of the free trade area between Egypt and Tunisia last January.
Bilateral cooperation was also the main topic of talks held in the Tunisian capital this week by Foreign Minister Amr Moussa, who arrived there on Monday to co-chair the Egypt-Tunisia Follow-Up Committee for Political Consultations.
While in Tunis, Moussa was received by the Tunisian president and the minister of defence. Moussa also met with the Tunis-based PLO figure Farouq Qaddoumi.
A MEETING of the joint High Egyptian-Moroccan Committee that was scheduled to convene in Rabat from 24 to 26 May, under the chairmanship of President Hosni Mubarak and King Hassan of Morocco, has been postponed.
No new date has been announced yet, but sources say it will be a few weeks before the two Arab leaders chair the joint committee. The decision was made by the two leaders during a telephone conversation on Saturday evening.
According to Foreign Minister Amr Moussa, Mubarak and Hassan "thought that their meeting, if held after the current regional developments, would give them the opportunity to assess the situation, in the light of these developments". Moussa added that the two leaders thought that this would be "more fruitful" in terms of the Egyptian and Moroccan approach to the regional situation, particularly the peace process.
EGYPT is going to take part in the fourth COMESA summit that is scheduled to take place in the Kenyan capital Nairobi on 24-25 May. Foreign Minister Amr Moussa will probably head Egypt's delegation to the summit. COMESA is the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa.
This will be the first COMESA summit that Egypt attends as a fully-fledged member, after the Egyptian government ratified its membership of the economic grouping in January.
The summit will discuss the report of COMESA finance ministers, which suggests the establishment of regional export organisations that should work on facilitating and securing short-term investments and trade among COMESA's 21 member-states.
Also on the agenda of the summit is the implementation of the COMESA free trade area that should start in the year 2000.
According to Ibrahim Hassan, assistant to the foreign minister, Egypt's exports to COMESA member-states soared this year. "For example, our annual exports to Kenya have jumped from an average figure of $7 million to $26 million," Hassan said.
Egypt is also taking part in the trade fair that is going to be organised on the fringe of the summit. According to Hassan, Egypt's pavilion in this fair "will be one of the largest, if not the largest; displaying all types of Egyptian products".
THE PEOPLE'S Assembly is expected to hold a special session in the first half of June to nominate President Hosni Mubarak for a fourth presidential term, Speaker Fathi Sorour announced on Monday.
According to the constitution, the nomination should be made by at least one third of the Assembly's members and should be approved by the people in a nationwide referendum. The Assembly has 444 elected and 10 appointed members.
THE ARAB LEAGUE is seeking the cooperation of Cairo and Damascus to hold the first meeting of its contact group on the Iraq crisis that was commissioned following an extraordinary conference of Arab foreign ministers. The January conference discussed the situation in Iraq in view of the continuing US-British air strikes.
"The Arab League is telling us that it hopes to see this meeting held, if only once, before Arab foreign ministers convene for their ordinary session in September," a source said. Cairo's response is that for this meeting to be effective, "there has to be at least an [affirmative] nod from Iraq, that has been opposed to this committee".
Also crucial for the activities of this committee is for the Maghreb countries to nominate a representative to fill the still vacant Maghreb seat.
NAMIBIAN President Sam Nujoma is due in Cairo today for a three-day visit that will include talks with President Hosni Mubarak on African issues. The talks will also focus on promoting bilateral relations, particularly trade and technical cooperation.
SUSPECTS accused of smuggling stolen weapons from an unnamed Arab country across Egypt's western border are expected to stand trial next week before a state security court in Alexandria.
The 22 suspects have been questioned by the state security prosecutor on charges of possessing unlicenced weapons with the aim of trading in them. Before the interrogation was closed, two more suspects were arrested. A judicial source said some 50 firearms have been confiscated.
THE EIGHTH International Conference on Aerospace Science and Aviation Technology (ASAT) was held last week at the Military Technical College. Sponsored by the Ministry of Defence, ASAT provided a valuable opportunity to exchange information and stimulate discussions on research activities, said Major-General Galal Rabie, secretary-general of the conference.
On the fringe of the specialised seminars, 21 foreign firms displayed state-of-the-art technological products.
