EGYPT:President Hosni Mubarak will arrive in Dublin on Wednesday for the first visit to Ireland by an Egyptian head of state, writes Deaglán de Bréadún, Foreign Affairs Correspondent, in Cairo
During his two-day trip, Mr Mubarak will hold talks with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern on Middle East issues, Darfur and Egypt-Ireland relations.
Mr Mubarak's Irish visit will be part of a five-day European tour and from Dublin he will travel to Paris to meet French president Jacques Chirac and then to Berlin for talks with the chancellor, Angela Merkel.
Mr Mubarak will be accompanied by his wife, Suzanne, and a party of about 100 officials and journalists. On Thursday, the President, Mrs McAleese, will host a lunch for him at Áras an Uachtaráin with Ministers also in attendance. His meeting with the Taoiseach and the Minister for Foreign Affairs will take place afterwards at Government Buildings.
The Middle East will be the top foreign policy issue at the meeting. Ireland and Egypt have consistently taken parallel positions on the central importance of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in resolving other difficulties and crises in the region.
Both governments have backed the "Road Map" for peace which envisages the establishment of a viable and sovereign Palestinian state that would co-exist peacefully alongside Israel. The crises in Iraq and Lebanon are also likely to be discussed.
Given Egypt's close ties historically with Sudan, the Taoiseach will be anxious to hear Mr Mubarak's views on the crisis in the western Sudanese region of Darfur. Ireland has been a vociferous advocate of humanitarian aid, UN intervention and moves towards long-term peace in Darfur. The Minister for Foreign Affairs visited Khartoum and Darfur last July and total funding from Irish aid to Sudan, including Darfur, has amounted to €32 million since 2004.
Ireland and Egypt are keen to develop stronger economic links. Irish exports to Egypt totalled €55 million last year, mainly consisting of food, technological and pharmaceutical products. Egyptian exports to Ireland were worth €22 million, 43 per cent of it fertilisers. Tourism to Egypt has increased significantly with the introduction of direct flights from Dublin to Luxor. Last year 40,000 Irish people visited Egypt - more than double the 2003 figure.
Last May the Irish Embassy in Cairo signed an agreement with the Egyptian Tourism Federation to set up a tourism institute in the Egyptian capital. Ireland has provided the first instalment of a promised €200,000 grant for the institute.
Mr Mubarak leaves for France on Thursday evening. He will open an exhibition in Paris entitled "Egypt's Sunken Treasures", which consists of some 500 artefacts dating from the 7th century BC to the 8th century AD which were recovered from the sea in the last 10 years by divers and marine archaeologists off the coast of Alexandria and in the Bay of Aboukir.