DURING extensive discussions with a number of world leaders, President Hosni Mubarak this week compared notes and exchanged views on a wide spectrum of issues. Topping his agenda were prospects for the peace process after the formation of the new Israeli government headed by Labour leader Ehud Barak.

Mubarak was in Washington last week for a four-day official visit. He met with US President Bill Clinton on Thursday. The Egyptian president then travelled to Paris to meet with Jacques Chirac on Saturday, stopping over in Algeria for a few hours of talks with President Abdel-Aziz Bouteflika before returning home. On Tuesday, Mubarak met first with former Israeli Premier Shimon Peres and later with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat to sound out their views on the peace process.

Mubarak will be meeting with Barak tomorrow and Syria's Hafez Al-Assad in Egypt soon for further consultations.