 |
Al-Ahram Weekly 24 - 30 June 1999 Issue No. 435 
|
||
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
|
Al-Ahram Weekly 24 - 30 June 1999 Issue No. 435
|
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Features Interview Travel Sports Time Out Chronicles People Cartoons Letters The president's voyage
President Mubarak's forthcoming trip to the US comes at an extremely critical time: the situation in this region, after several years of tension and stagnation, is on the threshold of a new era following the election of Ehud Barak and the formation of a new government in Israel. Everyone expects that the stalemate in the peace process will be broken at last, now that the intransigent Netanyahu is no more.
The Palestinians are looking forward to the implementation of the agreements they signed with Israel, while the Syrians are ready for negotiations to begin over the return of the Golan Heights. As for the Lebanese, they anticipate Israel's withdrawal from the south. In all of this, the United States has an important role to play: the very role it relinquished throughout Netanyahu's rule. The United States could do much to ensure that any settlement signed reflects not the imbalance of military power in the region, but justice and equity.
Domestically, the Egyptian economy has emerged from the first phase of reform and has attained a degree of stability. This in itself implies a revision of our economic ties with America; and if Washington recently declared that it would reduce the aid it gives both Egypt and Israel, the point is not this assistance in itself. Indeed, our economy is no longer ailing. Healthy economic relations are of the essence here, based on equitable commercial exchange, more active US investment, and an increase in the Egyptian balance of trade.
Based on an interview by Mohamed Salmawy.
