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Al-Ahram Weekly 1 - 7 July 1999 Issue No. 436 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 1 - 7 July 1999 Issue No. 436
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Features Special Interview Travel Living Sports Time Out Chronicles People Cartoons Letters Looking ahead
By Nivine KhalilAfter two years of long-distance consultations, power changes in the Middle East and the launching of a strategic Egypt-US dialogue, President Hosni Mubarak had a lot on his mind when he travelled to Washington last Saturday. Today is the culmination of the crammed agenda of Mubarak's four-day visit, which officially began on Monday. He will meet with US President Bill Clinton and co-chair the Presidents' Council with Vice-President Al Gore, before leaving for Paris tomorrow for talks with French President Jacques Chirac.
Mubarak's one-night stopover in Paris, after his talks in Washington, is certain to drive the message home that Cairo believes Europe should continue its efforts to become an effective player in the peace process. "We want a bigger and more effective role for Europe in the peace process," Foreign Minister Amr Moussa told Al-Ahram Weekly.
Today, Mubarak will discuss an array of pressing regional and bilateral issues with Clinton. "Talks between the two presidents will be wide-ranging, covering a number of current sensitive issues, at the forefront of which is the peace process," Moussa said.
Both sides want to see clear and speedy progress on all tracks of Arab-Israeli negotiations under the new Israeli government of Prime Minister-elect Ehud Barak. They both believe that the first step should be the implementation of last November's Wye Memorandum, followed by the launching of final-status talks on the Palestinian track and reviving the Syrian and Lebanese tracks simultaneously. Confidence-building measures are urgently needed after the damage done by outgoing Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu since 1996.
Mubarak said this week that he expected "good progress on the road to peace" once Barak takes office. "He is very convinced of peace," Mubarak said of Barak.
"The current status between the parties is that each side views the other with suspicion," said Mubarak's chief political adviser Osama El-Baz. "Each is waiting for the other to make the first move". El-Baz suggested that now was the time for "hard work, homework and creative thinking to deal with nitty-gritty issues," just around the corner in final-status talks.
US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright expected "very active movement on the peace process" as soon as Barak forms his cabinet. Albright noted that both Washington and Cairo are "being supportive of getting the process moving and we are working closely on this".
Assistant Secretary of State Martin Indyk said Mubarak's visit comes at an important time, as Barak is close to forming his government. Barak is then expected to visit Washington, and then Cairo, for talks on the prospects of reviving the peace process. Indyk noted that Clinton and Mubarak will consult on "how we together can help push the peace process forward on all fronts with the object of achieving a comprehensive peace. There's a lot to discuss with President Mubarak, and we are very glad to have that opportunity at this timely moment," he added.
Washington is not expected to pressure Cairo to revive economic activities including Israel by relaunching the Middle East/North Africa economic conference. "I don't think that there is any need for pressure on this issue," Indyk said. "Cairo has made it clear that the regional economic agenda is important to Egypt, and I hope that as the peace process gets underway we will see the MENA summit process get underway."
Moussa said that whether Egypt will host the next MENA conference or not is "an Egyptian decision". He told the Weekly that Cairo has already decided to host the gathering, "but only when the peace process moves on all tracks. That "We have no objections and are not waiting for anyone to ask us to host the gathering".
The two presidents will discuss conditions in Iraq as well as the situation in Sudan, the Mediterranean region and the African continent. Bilateral issues will also take up a fair share of the talks, with discussions of economic and trade relations, as well as progress made within the framework of the US-Egyptian partnership on government and business levels.
It is not expected that "thorny" issues relating to domestic developments in Egypt, will be addressed during the talks. These include the recent ratification of the NGO law and claims of religious persecution of Copts. "I don't think that domestic issues in Egypt will be on the agenda during the summit-level meeting," noted Moussa. El-Baz agreed, saying that while Cairo is "willing to share information and views with friends on these issues, we will not bow to pressure from anybody".
Nor are Washington's contacts with the Iraqi opposition on the Egyptian agenda. Moussa said that the Egyptians will discuss the issue "if it is raised" by the Americans. He emphasised that Cairo opposes the opening of dialogue channels between the US and the Iraqi opposition to prepare for the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime. "We do not deal with the Iraqi opposition, and Washington knows this and understands our position," he noted.
There is agreement on both sides, however, that the alleviation of the suffering of the Iraqi people is a top priority, as is the need to protect Iraq's territorial integrity and sovereignty.
Ahead of today's meeting, Mubarak and his team of high-calibre politicians and businessmen held back-to-back meetings with key figures in US politics. These included Secretary of State Albright, National Security Council Adviser Sandy Berger, Defence Secretary William Cohen, House Speaker Dennis Hastert, CIA Director George Tenet, Secretary of Commerce William Daley, leaders of the American-Jewish community, key Congressmen influential in shaping US foreign policy, as well as a delegation of the Coptic Churches of America.
On bilateral strategic issues, which are hammered out within the framework of US-Egyptian strategic dialogue, Secretary of Defence Cohen said that both countries are working together to cooperate on bilateral and regional security issues, and that the US will "continue to explore ways in which we can be helpful to Egypt in modernising its forces". Cohen described talks between the two countries on making the Middle East an area free of weapons of mass destruction as a "very important issue for us to cooperate on".
To better serve bilateral economic relations, Mubarak and Gore will sign a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) today, which should serve as the basis for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) at some time in the future. Indyk noted that "conditions are not ripe at the moment for moving immediately on an FTA", but he emphasised that the TIFA "is an indication of our interest in moving in this direction".
Secretary of Commerce Daley noted that a TIFA is a "forerunner" of an FTA, and that there is "lots of room for improvement in bilateral economic relations. Our political relation is strong, what we are trying to do is to take steps to change the economic situation," Daley said.
Cairo understands that the obstacle to finalising an FTA lies with the US Congress, which is refusing to give the administration a mandate to negotiate new agreements. Minister of Economy Youssef Boutros Ghali said: "Egypt knows that the administration wants to negotiate an FTA, but cannot." He added that instead of waiting helplessly, the two sides have begun to redress the trade imbalance between them. "We agreed that we don't need an FTA to develop trade relations," he concluded.
Indyk praised Egypt's attempts to transfer its economic ties with the US from an aid-based relationship to a trade-based one. "We think that makes a lot of sense," he said. To this end, Daley will be visiting the region next October, accompanied by a large delegation of businessmen eager to open channels with their Egyptian and other Arab counterparts.
Ghali is pinning high hopes on this tour. "In Cairo, typically the contacts will cover joint investments and trade in both directions, and will generally improve and deepen economic relations," Ghali said.
Despite his hectic schedule, Mubarak found time to receive two honourary doctorates, from George Washington University, DC, and St. John's University, New York.
