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Al-Ahram Weekly 21 - 27 October 1999 Issue No. 452 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 21 - 27 October 1999 Issue No. 452
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Cohen in Cairo
By Amira IbrahimUS DEFENCE Secretary William Cohen arrives in Cairo today for military talks and to visit US forces participating in the Bright Star exercises.
Cohen began his Middle East tour on Monday, visiting Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates before arriving in Cairo. And on Saturday he will fly to Kuwait, then Jordan and Muscat before ending his tour in Tel Aviv.
In Cairo, Cohen will meet with President Hosni Mubarak to discuss the peace process, and is expected to meet with his Egyptian counterpart, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, to discuss military cooperation.
According to senior American officials, Cohen is visiting the Middle East to discuss long-term strategies, including the continued US presence in the region. He will also follow-up on issues broached during last February's tour of the Middle East, including shared early warning systems and problems connected to weapons of mass destruction.
Tomorrow he is due to attend the military landing at Al-Omayed, near Alexandria, signalling the start of the main phase of the military exercise Bright Star 99.
"It has become a very effective exercise for multinational training, allowing countries of the region to work together," said one well-placed defence official. "It has coalition benefits. So the virtue of going to Bright Star is not only from a US perspective but from a multinational coalition perspective."
During his last visit to Egypt in February, Cohen announced that the US had agreed to sell Egypt $3.2 billion worth of weapons, including 24 F-16 jet fighters, 200 M1A1 tanks and 32 patriot anti-missile missiles. Arms sales are not expected to be on the defence secretary's agenda this time round.
