Consolidating ties

Egypt continues its pursuit of greater diplomatic outreach, reports Doaa El-Bey

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Egypt's strengthening of its ties with the African states received a boost when Ghana's President John Kufuor, the Chair of the African Union, met Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo last week for trade talks. The two leaders also discussed ways to promote African cooperation, as well as preparations for July's African Union summit in Ghana.

In addition, Egypt took part in last month's 12th ordinary meeting of the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, reiterating its commitment to resolving armed conflicts by peaceful means and achieving the twin goals of development and prosperity for all people of the region.

"We must acknowledge the fact that peace, security, stability and development are indivisible. They are essential prerequisites for the creation of an environment conducive to attracting investment and realising high and sustained rates of growth and job creation," said Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit in a speech to the meeting, delivered on behalf of President Mubarak.

Increased economic cooperation with COMESA is expected to result in a customs union by the end of 2008, as a fully fledged common market and the COMESA Early Warning System for member states becomes a reality.

Relations with Latin America also hit the spotlight, with last week's three-day visit of El Salvador's President Antonio Sacca to Egypt. Sacca discussed bilateral relations and other regional and international issues during a meeting with Mubarak.

Egypt has also been keen to pursue greater cooperation with East Asian states in the wake of Mubarak's visit to Russia, China and Kazakhstan late last year. Following Mubarak's visit to Moscow and his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the fourth since Putin became president, Russian Foreign Minister Sergy Lavrov visited Cairo for consultations with President Mubarak, and attendance of a session of the Egyptian-Russian Strategic Dialogue, along with his counterpart Abul-Gheit. The last of these dialogue sessions took place in May, when the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs (ECFA) invited scholars from the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Science to Cairo.

During the meeting, ECFA members reiterated requests that Russia play a more active role in the Middle East.

"The world needs Russia, either alone or with the EU, to balance the US," said Kamal Abul- Kheir during the session, succinctly summing up the position of many of the Egyptian participants. The Russian delegation said it was taking the opportunity to learn more about Egypt, in order to be able to play a larger role in the Middle East. The purpose of the meeting, Director of the Russian Institute Professor R B Rybakov told Egyptian delegates, was to discuss Middle East problems and "record your questions, prepare our answers and then discuss them further with each other".

Professor AO Felonik, head of the Arabian Studies of the Institute, warned against any division of the Middle East along sectarian lines.

Mubarak's visit to Kazakhstan has already resulted in his Kazakh counterpart visiting Egypt twice, privately last year and officially in March this year. In addition, the presidents of Armenia and Uzbekistan visited Egypt in April, while the Azerbaijani president was in Cairo in early May, all signs of Egypt's determination to consolidate relations with the former Soviet Republics.

Egypt has also been active in strengthening its ties with Europe. Late last year, Mubarak made a three-leg European tour, visiting the Republic of Ireland, in the first-ever visit by an Egyptian president. He also made a stop in France, where he met then French president Jacques Chirac for the third time in a year, and, finally, Germany, for his third summit with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Merkel also paid a visit to Egypt earlier this year. Exchange visits between Egypt and the European states aim to promote bilateral relations, especially in the fields of trade and economic and cultural cooperation, as well as discuss European involvement in regional issues related to Palestine, the Iraqi war, the situation in Darfur and Iran's nuclear programme.

In its attempt to extend its diplomatic reach, Cairo has also been courting the Eastern European states. Romanian President Tarian Basescu was in Cairo on a two-day visit in February, during which he met Mubarak along with senior officials and businessmen. While trade was its primary focus, the visit also offered an opportunity to exchange views on political developments in the Middle East, especially in Iraq where Romanian troops are deployed. The visit resulted in the signing of agreements to upgrade bilateral cooperation, building on the impetus given to trade ties by Mubarak's visits to Bucharest in 2001 and 2004.

Ahmed Youssef Ahmed, head of the Institute for Research and Arab Studies, sees Cairo's attempts to widen its diplomatic clout as a reactivation of pre-existing relations. One motive, he suggests, for breathing new life into old ties, is concern among Egyptian policy-makers about Saudi Arabia's growing influence.

Signs of Riyadh's determination to play a growing regional role include Saudi intervention in the Palestinian issue, as evinced by the Mecca Agreement, as well as growing involvement in the crises in Lebanon, Darfur and Somalia. Riyadh has also been talking to Iran about its relations with the West and is in discussion with Iraqi factions about the possibilities of reconciliation. It was Saudi Arabia, too, that proposed the Arab Peace Initiative adopted by the Arab Summit in Beirut in 2002. Arab states reiterated their commitment to the initiative at the close of this year's summit in Riyadh in March.

While Ahmed does not think it likely that Saudi Arabia can assume the leading regional role long played by Egypt in the Middle East ó it lacks, he says, a comprehensive plan, and therefore tends to make policy on the hoof ó he is also concerned that Cairo, too, has begun to operate in a less than consistent way. "We agree to [President George] Bush's plan in Palestine, to intervention in Somalia and other things, in spite of the poor chances of success. If we start working according to a comprehensive plan, we will be more qualified to resume our leading role," concludes Ahmed.