Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak held a series of talks with Arab leaders including Saudi king in the past three days, which reflects the latest Egyptian efforts to speed up inter-Arab coordination on regional issues and bilateral ties.
On Friday, Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz arrived in Egypt for a two-day visit to the country and held talks shortly after his arrival in the northern Egyptian coast city of Alexandria with Mubarak.
The two heavyweight Arab leaders discussed Arab issues and the latest regional and international developments, according to the Egyptian MENA news agency.
Terming the meeting as "positive," Egyptian presidential spokesman Suleiman Awwad said the talks focused on a host of Arab affairs, including the possible resumption of an inter-Palestinian dialogue in Cairo and the stalled Palestinian-Israeli negotiations.
The two leaders also discussed the developments in Lebanon and Iraq, the situation in the Gulf region, the nuclear dispute between the West and Iran and the Sudanese issue, said Awwad.
On the bilateral ties, the two leaders expressed their satisfaction with the level of trade exchange between the two countries, added the spokesman.
Earlier on Friday, Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry Rachid Mohamed Rachid said the two countries have made major progress in trade and investment.
Saudi Arabia is one of Egypt's major investors with its direct investments amounting to 15 billion Egyptian pounds (about 2.83 billion U.S. dollars), Rachid said.
The oil-rich Gulf country is also the largest importer of Egyptian non-petroleum products, which exceeded 970 million U.S. dollars in 2007, the Egyptian minister added.
Bilateral trade and investment are expected to increase due to the establishment of an Egyptian-Saudi industrial zone in the 6th of October Governorate at a total cost of some 750 million dollars, Rachid said.
Egyptian newspapers on Saturday hailed the Egyptian-Saudi summit, saying the current situation of the Arab world needs all efforts by the two major Arab countries.
Egypt's influential newspaper Al-Ahram daily said in its editorial on Saturday that the whole Arab nation expects good outcome when the Egyptian and Saudi leaders meet for consultations due to the strategic leverage of the two countries in the Middle East.
On Thursday, the meeting between Mubarak and visiting Sultan Qaboos ben Said of Oman, another important Arab country in the Gulf, also focused on the latest regional developments and bilateral ties.
Al-Gomhuria, another major Egyptian daily, said in its editorial on Saturday that the issue of joint Arab action comes first during the talks between President Mubarak and the Arab leaders.
Besides the Saudi and Omani leaders, Mubarak met with visiting Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Seniora Saturday in Alexandria.
At a news conference with his Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Nazef after the talks, Seniora said his meeting with Mubarak is " fruitful and positive."
They discussed all issues related to inter-Arab relations, means of overcoming current problems in the Arab world and supporting Lebanon, said Seniora.
Mubarak reiterated Egypt's full support for Lebanon to overcome its problems and highlighted the importance of boosting cooperation between the two sides, Seniora said.
Meanwhile, during Saturday's meeting, Mubarak and Seniora also tackled the cooperation between Cairo and Beirut in the field of energy and means of increasing bilateral trade, the Lebanese prime minister said.
Nazef, for his part, said Egypt would support the reconstruction of Lebanon and supply the country with electricity and gas.
Nazef said the energy ministers of Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon will meet next week on a plan to provide Lebanon with energy, promising that an exact date for the arrival of Egyptian gas and electricity to Lebanon will be announced soon.
(Xinhua News Agency August 17, 2008)
