US Secretary of State Colin Powell will meet his Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Maher next week during the latter’s first official visit to Washington since becoming foreign minister, according to official American sources cited by press reports.
Maher, who served as Egypt’s ambassador to the United States for seven years before his retirement more than two years ago, will be accompanied by Egyptian Minister of Economy Yousef Butros Ghali.
The Lebanese newspaper Al Safir cited the sources as saying the visit was requested by the Egyptians to follow up on bilateral issues raised during the visit of President Hosni Mubarak to Washington more than two months ago, and to discuss the most recent developments in the Palestinian territories.
The sources anticipated that US officials would raise the issue of Egyptian American researcher Saad Eddin Ibrahim, who recently received a seven-year jail term from an Egyptian court for accepting money from EU sources, aviolation to a martial law stll in effect.
The case has reaped strong American media and political attention and led to protests by lawmakers, the media and human rights organizations - Albawaba.com
