EGYPT-EUROPE: Cooperation on Mubarak's Mind as he Prepares For Tour
CAIRO, Nov 14 (IPS) - Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak visits Europe next week to discuss economic ties and is likely to bring up the Lockerbie bombing affair in which Libyans are said to be behind the deaths of almost 300 people in an air crash over Scotland.
Egyptian officials said Monday that Mubarak would leave for Britain -- his first stop -- on Nov. 21 before heading for Poland, Italy and Romania.
British embassy officials in Cairo said the Egyptian leader would meet Prime Minister John Major and the Queen. They said the Lockerbie affair was likely to crop up.
Last month, an international Arab newspaper, Al Hayat, quoted a Libyan official in Cairo as saying that senior Libyan bureaucrats would meet British embassy officials to discuss the affair.
Libya is an under United Nations economic embargo because it refuses to hand over two intelligence officers for trial in Scotland or the United States allegedly behind the 1988 bombing of the Pan-American aircraft.
The al Hayat interview with Libyan ambassador the Arab League in Cairo, Mohammed al Bashiri, came after Libya offered to .
British embassy officials told IPS there were no plans for any meeting.
Egypt has tried to play a mediating role between the protagonists.
In Italy, President Mubarak is expected to meet beleaguered Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and the Pope. Italian embassy officials in Cairo said talks would concentrate mainly on economic issues.
A spokeswoman said Egypt was a "very important" trading partner for Italy. In 1993, Italy exported 1.2 billion dollars worth of goods to Egypt -- mainly farm machinery, spare parts of civil aircraft and chemical products -- the spokeswoman said.
Italy imported 935 million dollars worth of goods, mainly oil, cotton and some food, she added.
© Inter Press Service (2014) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service