CAIRO: President Hosni Mubarak will make a two-day visit to Washington for talks with President Barack Obama on May 26, local press reported on Tuesday.
President Mubarak will be in Washington on May 26 and 27 after an invitation from US President Barack Obama, Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said, quoted by the state-owned Al-Akhbar.
The date was also confirmed by the White House.
Mubarak s trip – his first to the United States in five years – comes ahead of a visit by Obama to Egypt where he is to make his long-awaited address to the Muslim world.
As Obama tries to kickstart Middle East peacemaking, he has also extended invitations to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas.
Spokesman Robert Gibbs said Tuesday that new Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu will arrive on Monday. President Mubarak will be in Washington on May 26 and Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, will visit the US capital two days later.
The president looks forward to welcoming key partners in the effort to achieve a comprehensive peace in the Middle East to the White House later this month, Gibbs said in a statement.
With each of them, the president will discuss ways the United States can strengthen and deepen our partnerships, as well as the steps all parties should take to help achieve peace between Israelis and Palestinians and between Israel and the Arab states.
