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Short Takes:
Daniel Kurtzer, the US ambassador in Cairo, emphasized the importance of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's upcoming visit to the USA, which will begin on Saturday, referring in special statements to ArabicNews.com to the USA's desire to increase the volume of investments and trade with Egypt. Kurtzer emphasized that Mubarak's visit aims at confirming the existing relations between the two sides and taking more steps to support cooperation in data technology through Mubarak's visit to sites for technology production in the USA. Go

The supreme Egyptian - Tunisian committee agreed on signing 11 agreements to support joint cooperation between the two states in the fields of trade, aviation, navigation, education and culture, Yusef El-Mokadem, Tunisia's ambassador to Cairo said. Go

Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Othman Ismael said that Cairo is making arrangements to convene a meeting that will gather Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Sudanese President Omar El-Bashir and Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi on margin of meetings of the African - European summit at the beginning of next month. Go

Tunisian Lotfi Ben Jaffel, who is the team leader, and Algerian team member Mohammed Loucif from the Observatory of Alger have made discoveries along with two Europeans and an American that showed that our solar system behaves like a supersonic jet having a shock wave in front of it. Another discovery is also reported that the outer frontier of our solar system is tilted from where it was expected to be. Go

King Mohammed VI has hailed the efforts made by President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia to build up the Maghreb and foster bilateral relations. This came in a message of congratulations that the king sent to the Tunisian president on the occasion of his country's independence day. Go

King Mohammed VI held in Paris Tuesday at his residence a meeting with French Premier Lionel Jospin. Go

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa al-Thani on Monday in a telephone conversation reviewed developments in the Arab and international arenas. Go

The Saudi second deputy premier and defense minister, Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, has asserted that the border issue between Saudi Arabia and Yemen is proceeding on the right track. He expressed his hope that this issue will be ended in a resoultion that serves the interests of the two states. Go

Lebanese Defense Minister Ghazi Zoayter met yesterday in Beirut with Yemeni Defense Minister Maj. Gen Muhammad Dayfallah Muhammad, Lebanon NNA reported, adding that they discussed bilateral relations, cooperation between the two countries' Defense Ministries, regional developments, and the situation in south Lebanon. Go

Israel started today carrying out redeployment from 6.1% of the West Bank's space according to the rights of the transitional stage when the Palestinians and Israelis ratified the maps during their recent meetings. Israeli political sources said that Israel suggested to the Palestinian president a geographical extension of 14% from West Bank's space that begins with Ariha city till Sobat in Nablus city. Go

Official Yemeni sources said the kidnappings that took place in Yemen last year cost the country losses of $200 million due to the severe retreat in tourism, saying that 45,000 tourists visited Yemen last year in comparison with 87,000 in 1998. Go

The Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons invited Pope John Paul II to visit them during his current trip in the holy lands. The detainees said in their message, "Here, behind darkness from the humid cells, from death, sickness and suppression, we invite you to visit us, to bless the hunger which fights for justice and will which melt for man's peace and freedom." The message which is named "We aspire that the Pope carries key of liberty in visit to Palestine," said, "You will be received by noble fighters who spent more then 15 years in prisons and very young children, and you will hear the whole story." Go

Abd El-Monem Seoudi, head of the Egyptian industrial union, said today that Egyptian Prime Minister Atef Ebeid will open the expanded conference for the European - Mediterranean partnership with Egypt which Cairo agreed to hosting on October 3 with the participation of 600 European and Mediterranean companies and 400 Egyptian companies to support commercial and investment cooperation, convey technology and hire surplus energies in factories, marketing and manufacturing exports. Go

Jordanian Prime Minister Abdul Raouf al-Rawabdeh met on Monday in Amman with the special envoy for acting Russian President Vladimir Putin. Go

Venezuelan Energy Minister Ali Rodriguez started Sunday a visit to Iraq to discuss coordination at the coming meeting of OPEC, Iraqi News Agency reported. Go

The United Arab Emirates' Public Works Department is evaluating tender offers for a project to improve the road linking Mafraq and the Saudi border at a cost of 900 million dh, Khaleej Times reported. Go

The Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry has created a committee to study the impact of shopping malls featuring international department stores on small businesses, Gulf Daily News reported. Go

The Moroccan cinema center (CCM) and the cinema and audio-visual center of the French community of Belgium signed last week an agreement of cooperation in the field of cinema. Go

A French lorry driver was arrested on Monday in the Moroccan northern city of Tangiers while he was about to leave the country with 135 kg of cannabis. The banned substance was concealed in Pezard Didier's France-registered lorry. Go

Moroccan Fouad Habbani keeps his world title of professional full-contact champ in the 60 kg category after he defeated at points the former world champ, Ukrainian Vladimir Matowsky, Monday in Hammam Souss, Tunisia. Go

Statistics from the Qatari Department of Labor indicated that the use of expatriate workers in Qatar has been on the rise, Gulf Times reported. Go

Iraq has asked the United Nations for permission to price its oil for April at up to $1 per barrel above market level, Gulf News reported. Go