Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher begins Thursday a four-day official trip to Washington, his first visit to the United States since taking his post, reported Al Ahram newspaper on Monday.
Maher will hold talks with his US counterpart, Colin Powell, as well as a number of other senior US officials, lawmakers and representatives of Arab and Jewish organizations, said the paper.
Maher told a press conference that his visit to Washington was within the framework of the “close bilateral relations between the two countries,” adding that “bilateral issues and the latest developments in the Palestinian Occupied Territories will be the focus of his talks with the US officials.
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.
A report by the Lebanese newspaper Al Safir last week cited 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 in violation of a martial law still 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
