Mubarak comes to Washington seeking aid, strategic ties

CAIRO — Egypt has stressed the need for U.S. military aid on the eve of President Hosni Mubarak's talks with the Bush administration.

Egyptian officials and the state-owned Egyptian media have highlighted the benefits of U.S. aid for the economy and military in Egypt. The review comes amid criticism by opposition parliamentarians and other elements of Mubarak's courting of Washington and the Bush administration.

On Monday, Mubarak meets President George Bush in the White House. He will later meet Vice President Richard Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice.

In his talks, Mubarak is expected to urge the administration to separate proposed strategic relations between Cairo and Washington from political disputes between the two countries on such issues as the Arab-Israeli peace process, Iraq and Egypt's record on human rights.

The meetings come in wake of Arab criticism of a U.S. veto in the United Nations Security Council of a draft resolution that called for the deployment of international peacekeepers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

But quietly those close to Mubarak have urged that Egypt play down the U.S. veto in favor of improving the relationship between Cairo and Washington.

Ibrahim Nafie, editor of the state-owned Al Ahram and who serves to articulate Mubarak's policies, said the United States values Egypt and its military. "The United States has furnished more than $27 billion in military aid towards equipping and training the Egyptian armed forces, which, in conjunction with joint maneuvers and other programs, have elevated our deterrent capacities to unprecedented levels," Nafie wrote.

"That the United States has persisted in its military assistance programs to Egypt in the face of vehement Israeli objections confirms American faith in Egypt's pivotal role in safeguarding stability in the Middle East."