Hosni Mubarak arrives in Washington, D.C.

Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak is in Washington for a visit that will include talks with President Bush on Tuesday.

Mr. Mubarak, accompanied by his wife and top aides, arrived Saturday at Andrews Air Force Base, outside Washington.

Egyptian sources say Mr. Mubarak will urge the United States to play a more active role in Middle East peacemaking based on a new Saudi Arabian peace initiative.

Egypt has welcomed the Saudi proposal, which calls for normalizing relations between Israel and Arab nations in exchange for Israeli withdrawal from land captured in the 1967 war. The Saudi plan has attracted widespread interest through-out the Arab world and in some Israeli quarters since it was proposed last month by Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah.

A State Department spokesman cautioned Friday that the Saudi ideas are not a blueprint for Middle East peace, nor do they offer a solution to Israeli-Palestinian violence. He said the first steps toward peace must be taken by the Palestinians and Israelis themselves.

Email this article to a friend
Printer Friendly Version