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Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is getting ready to visit Jordan during the coming week to fulfill an official invitation presented by King Abdullah II to discuss the developments in the Middle East, after which Mubarak will head to Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, diplomatic sources in Cairo told ArabicNews.com today. The Jordanian - Egyptian summit will tackle the situation in Iraq in the shadow of UN Security Council resolution 1286 and the international stance toward Iraq, as well as the situation in Sudan and the importance of the Arab states' support for the legitimacy in Sudan. Go

Sudanese President Omar El-Bashir received a phone call from Egyptian President Honsi Mubarak to discuss the latest developments in Sudan and Egypt's confirmation of support for Sudan's stability. Go

French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine will arrive in Cairo on Monday to meet with high-ranking Egyptian officials topped by Foreign Minsiter Amr Moussa, with whom he will discuss peace process developments and Middle East issues. A French official in Cairo told ArabicNews.com that the discussions between the French official and Egyptian officials will tackle the peace process developments in the shadow of the resumption of Syrian - Israeli negotiations, Egypt's and France's desire to resume negotiations on the Lebanese track, and other issues that concern the two countries. Go

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, current head of the Organization of African Unity, made a phone call yesterday to Javier Solana, the secretary general of the European Council, that tackled removing the obstacles to convening the Cairo Euro - African summit on April 3 - 4. Algerian diplomatic sources said that if the European Union understands the African concerns represented in the agenda, the mechanism for follow-up and the date for convening the meetings, the Organization of African Unity will spare no effort to find a solution for the European concerns regarding the problem of participation. Go

Djiboutian President Ismail Omar Guelleh will visit Egypt on January 25 - 26, during which he will be received by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to discuss issues of joint concern. Mahmoud Ali Yusef, the ambassador of Djibouti in Cairo, said this visit is considered the president's first after officially assuming power in May 1999 and that it comes in support of the distinguished bilateral relations between the two countries. He said Guelleh will meet with Egyptian businessmen to discuss the establishment of joint projects. Go

Palestinian Minister of International Cooperation and Planning Nabil Shaath said that the Palestinian problem is one of land and people who were expelled from their homes because of the occupation, thus if the lands and people do not return, there will be no solution to the Palestinian issue. He added, "Who can stay outside his land? If the Palestinians accepted settling down outside their homes there would have been no Palestinians, and we would have given the Israelis what they want." Go

President of Burkina Faso, Blaise Campaore, expressed Monday "admiration for the renewal and reform endeavors" undertaken by King Mohammed VI. Campaore, who received the credentials of Moroccan new ambassador, Mohamed Hama, also hailed the excellent bilateral relations and brotherly bonds. He also stressed that the two countries have similar views on a set of international issues. Go

Moroccan associations of fruit and vegetable producers and exporters "APEFEL" and "ASPEM" postponed the sit-in they meant to stage initially today in front of the European commission delegation in Rabat to protest the EU decision to require import certificates for Moroccan tomatoes. Go

Iraqi Deputy Premier Tariq Aziz arrived on Tuesday in Kuala Lumpur in a visit to Malaysia which will last for several days. Reuters said that Aziz will hold talks during this visit with his Malaysian counterpart, Abdullah bin Ahmad Badawi, and Foreign Minister Syed Hamid bin Syed Jaafar Albar centering on disputes between the US and Iraq over the trade sanctions imposed on it since 1991. Go

The Algerian company for fuels, Sonatrach, on Tuesday announced a new oil discovery in Hase Tarfeh, 50 km southwest of Hasi Nasoud, one of the biggest oil fields in the Algerian desert. The Algerian official news agency quoted a high-ranking official as saying that the oil well which was explored in Hase Tarfeh has an average oil flow of 60 barrels of oil and 1,258 cubic meters of gas per hour. Go

Terrorism groups planning to assault the participants in the Paris - Dakar - Cairo Car Rally were caught. Some stages of the Rally were canceled due to the threats. Algerian security sources said, "These groups have connections with the armed groups in Algeria and the rebels in Chad," adding that, "Some of these schemers were arrested as they admitted their plan to explode the Rally and stir panic among the participants in this famous race." Go

The director general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, Eytan Bentsur, and the secretary of the civil affairs department at the Palestinian government, Sufian Abu Zeidah, agreed during their meeting Tuesday to set up a joint committee to develop relations between the Israelis and Palestinians. Go

The Egyptian health ministry said today that the ministry's Virus Tracking Center was able to isolate a flu virus largely existing in some countries and provide preventive injection vaccine to pharmacies and external clinics in the Egyptian hospitals at a cost of 20 pound. The statement issued by the ministry said that the flu cases in Egypt are currently effecting individuals and not yet serious as Egyptian health fronts took the proper preventive procedures toward the flu. Go

The Mauritania capital Nouakchott witnessed yesterday a severe shortage in fuel that caused a paralyses in its streets as cars remained in long lines in front of few fuel stations while most of the other stations were closed which caused this crisis which is considered the first since the political crisis broke out between Mauritania and Algeria in last November. Algeria provides Mauritania with its needs of energy according to a bilateral agreement between that took place in the seventies. Go

Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh will pay an official visit to Israel on January 20. A statement issued by the Indian embassy in Cairo said the Indian minister will hold talks during the visit with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister David Levy that tackle bilateral issues and the developments in the regional and international arenas. It said this visit is considered the first on this level by an Indian official to Israel since the two sides established full diplomatic relations nine years ago. Go

Bahrain's Batelco telecommunications company plans to reduce rates by between two and 62 percent on overseas calls to 217 companies, Gulf Daily News reported. Go

The United Arab Emirates is negotiating with Pakistan's Sui Southern Gas Co Ltd (SSGC) on the construction of distribution systems for natural gas in the UAE, Gulf News reported. Go