CAIRO Ñ Egypt has assessed that its defense relations with the United States are no longer connected to Cairo's peace treaty with Israel.

Egyptian diplomatic sources and analysts said Washington wants to ensure that U.S. weapons to Cairo will not be used against the Jewish state. But they said Washington does not link continued sales of advanced U.S. weapons to Egypt to the extent of its relations with Israel.

The assessment was made after talks in both Cairo and Washington between senior Egyptian and U.S. officials over the last three months. The analysts said the Bush administration regards Egypt as the guarantor of Western security in the Gulf of Suez and the Red Sea. They said this justifies the sale of advanced U.S. weapons, such as the Harpoon Block II anti-shipping, to Cairo.

Next week, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will visit the United States and meet President George Bush in what Egyptian officials said would be a resumption of their strategic dialogue. Ibrahim Nafie, the editor of the state-owned Al Ahram daily and regarded as a leading spokesman of Mubarak, said Egyptian-U.S. strategic relations have been bolstered since the Sept. 11 suicide attacks on New Yorka and Washington.

"Not long ago, the United States began to disengage its relations with Egypt from those it has with Israel," Nafie wrote on Saturday. "...This shows that the [Egyptian-U.S.] relationship is a privileged one, and that both parties wish to reach a point of equilibrium that can be sustained through the fluctuations of current events. Such scrutiny further testifies to the common ground of strategic interests that prevail regardless of shifting political winds."

Nafie said U.S.-Egyptian relations have expanded new areas of cooperation. He did not elaborate.

The Egyptian analysts and sources said the expanding strategic relations between Cairo and Washington have been targeted by Israel and its supporters in the Congress. They said Israel stopped Egypt's efforts to obtain the advanced Longbow radar for the AH-64D helicopter from the United States. "At such times, Israel mobilizes its channels of influence in the United States to obstruct an arms deal Washington was about to conclude with an Arab party, roll back U.S. economic aid and technological cooperation with another Arab government, or push for punitive measures," Nafie said.

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