Bush agrees to discuss strategic ties with Mubarak

WASHINGTON — President George Bush agreed to discuss an Egyptian appeal for a strategic alliance with Cairo with visiting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak yesterday.

The agenda for the Mubarak-Bush talks was agreed over the weekend by Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Mussa who preceded Mubarak and briefed senior U.S. officials on the issues the Egyptian president intended to raise.

Cairo seeks a formal strategic alliance with the United States similar to that Washington has with Israel. For Egypt, such an alliance would mean increased access to advanced U.S. weapons and technology.

U.S. officials said Egypt also wants to convert economic aid into additional military aid. The request has been opposed by pro-Israeli members of Congress. Rep. Tom Lantos has gone further and called on the Bush administration to end military aid to Cairo, saying Egypt does not face a military threat.

Officials said however that Bush wants to develop Egypt's military as a leading force in Middle East security.

"We value our close relationship with Egypt and our cooperation on political, military, and economic issues." U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Edward Walker told a House International Relations subcommittee last week.

"The [U.S.] president continues to support fully the assistance we give to Egypt to help it reform its economy and build its military into an effective coalition partner with the United States."

But officials expect sharp opposition from Congress to any formal strategic alliance with Egypt. They acknowledge that several members of Congress have criticized Cairo's support for Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and Sudanese President Omar Bashir.

In an interview with the U.S. magazine Newsweek, Mubarak rejected any U.S. effort to topple Saddam.

"Forget about it," Mubarak said. "The Iraqi opposition you have in the United States, they cannot deliver — now or after Saddam. Any opposition group from outside the country that is known as working with the Americans is seen as traitors to the people."

Others have complained of Egypt's missile cooperation with North Korea, regarded as the biggest proliferator of missiles in the Middle East.

U.S. officials said many of these issues would be on the table during Mubarak's round of talks with senior administration officials including Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell.

American Jewish leaders have been divided over whether to welcome Mubarak. Some Jewish leaders, particularly linked to the previous Clinton administration, plan to welcome Mubarak during a dinner in his honor this week in New York.

Other Jewish leaders have criticized this, saying Mubarak supported the Palestinian mini-war against Israel.

On Monday, the Anti-Defamation League published ads in major U.S. newspapers that called on Mubarak to halt anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish incitement in the state-owned Egyptian media. The ADL said it will not attend the dinner to honor Mubarak.

"I'm not going to honor him when he has been unresponsive to our entreaties," ADL director Abe Foxman said.

The New York-based Zionist Organization of America has gone further and urged Congress to end U.S. aid to Egypt. A ZOA report said Egypt is an essentially anti-American state that boycotts Israel and is preparing for war in the Middle East.

Egypt receives about $2 billion in annual U.S. aid. About $1.3 billion is military aid.

"Egypt is preparing for war, spending much of its budget on massive amounts of offensive weaponry even though it faces no serious external threats," the ZOA report, entitled "Ten Good Reasons to Stop U.S. Aid to Egypt," said. "There is a danger that U.S. weapons sent to Egypt will be used against America's ally, Israel."

At the same time, Coptic organizations in the United States published an advertisement in the Washington Times on Monday that called for equal rights for the Coptic minority in Egypt. "What we are seeking is equality, protection, and justice for the Copts in Egypt, our beloved mother country," the ad said. "We hope that this will be the message that Mr. Mubarak will hear, loud and clear, from the United States during this visit."

Meanwhile in Cairo, Egypt is reported to be upgrading its missile boats with aid from Europe.

European contractors are upgrading key systems on Egypt's Ramadan-class fast attack craft. This includes upgrades of missile and radar systems.

Alenia Marconi Systems has been awarded an Egyptian contract for the refurbishment and upgrade of the radar systems fitted to the Ramadan. In a program expected to last more than four years, the joint British-Italian company will upgrade the Ramadan's S820 surveillance radars and ST 802 tracking radars.

In all, four Ramadan vessels will receive upgrades. This will include what Marconi executives describe as a full refurbishment of the fire control system. The contract, the amount of which was not disclosed, follows the first phase of Ramadan upgrade.

The company has also been awarded a contract to upgrade the Egyptian Navy's Otomat missiles. This contract will extend for more than five years and upgrade the missiles to the Italian Navy's Otomat Mk-2 configuration.