Business, Mideast peace on Gore-Mubarak agenda<\/p>\n
CAIRO (Agencies): U.S. Vice President Al Gore met with
\nPresident Hosni Mubarak yesterday to discuss the collapsing Arab-
\nIsraeli peace process and deepening business ties with Egypt.<\/p>\n
It was the final leg of a three-nation tour that also took him
\nto Israel, where he apparently failed to persuade Israeli Prime
\nMinister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a more extensive troop
\nwithdrawal from the West Bank, Israeli media reports said.<\/p>\n
The troop withdrawal was to be the center of talks in London
\ntoday between U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright,
\nPalestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Netanyahu.<\/p>\n
Egypt, the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with the
\nJewish state, has long been a mediator in Arab-Israeli
\nnegotiations.<\/p>\n
Gore met Mubarak at Al-Ittihadiya Palace. He also was to meet
\nwith the Egypt-U.S. Presidents' Council, a business advisory
\ngroup established in 1995 to set up joint development projects
\nand encourage American investment in Egypt.<\/p>\n
The program is widely seen as a way to wean Egypt from U.S.
\naid. Egypt receives $2.1 billion a year in American aid, second
\nonly to Israel's $3 billion.<\/p>\n
Ceremonies at the palace included the signing of a treaty
\ncalling for legal cooperation in cases involving terrorism and
\norganized crime. The two sides also signed agreements to increase
\nU.S. assistance to small businesses, environmental projects and
\neducational exchange.<\/p>\n
On his first stop of the day, Gore met with students at the
\nYoussef el-Badri School in suburban Heliopolis. The school is
\ntaking part in a U.S.-sponsored program Gore initiated to teach
\nchildren about the environment.<\/p>\n
The vice president listened intently as students -- including
\none girl in an Islamic headscarf -- explained experiments to
\nmeasure pollution levels and the growth of plants and trees. He
\ngot down on one knee to look at a chart being compiled by a young
\ngirl.<\/p>\n
Gore was in Israel to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the
\nJewish state. He also met with Arafat, who already has accepted
\nan American proposal that links measures against Islamic
\nmilitants to an Israeli withdrawal from 13 percent of the West
\nBank, which is home to some 1.8 million Palestinians.<\/p>\n
In a last-minute attempt to persuade Netanyahu to agree to the
\nU.S. initiative, Gore held a two-hour meeting with the Israeli
\nleader early yesterday morning, Israeli media reported.<\/p>\n
In Vatican City, Pope John Paul said yesterday he was praying
\nfor progress at Middle East peace talks in London.<\/p>\n
\"Tomorrow, May 4, there will be important meetings that aim to
\novercome the serious difficulties that the peace process between
\nthe state of Israel and the Palestinians is experiencing,\" the
\nPontiff said in a regular weekly address.<\/p>\n
\"I join in the feelings of those who have proposed and
\naccepted this initiative in the profound hope that the two sides,
\nand those who are involved in helping them, may foster a strong
\nwill to embark again on the path of dialog and peace.\"<\/p>\n
The Polish Pope said that for the Palestinian and Israeli
\npeople there was only one possible route -- respect, justice and
\ncooperation.<\/p>\n
\"Let us pray together that God illuminates those who will take
\npart in these important meetings,\" he told the faithful in St
\nPeter's Square.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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