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Short Takes:
US President Bill Clinton said yesterday before meeting with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat that this is "a very serious time in the peace process." Clinton stated that Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak "have set for themselves an ambitious time table to reach a framework agreement as soon as they can, and then a final agreement by the middle of September. So we're working hard on it and I think we'll get some things done today." Clinton said on the US role in the peace process that, "I think you all know what the issues are between the Israelis and the Palestinians. They are difficult; but I think they can be bridged. If the parties want to do this, we will do everything we can to help them and to minimize the difficulties and the risks involved." Go

Egyptian Oil Minister Sameb Fahmi spoke of the existence of 22 agreements for drilling petroleum in the deep water of the Mediterranean Sea with investments valued at 1.5 billion dollars for 8 international companies from France, U.S.A, U.K, Italy, Spain and Germany by using the most modern means of drilling petroleum in the world. Fahmi told ArabicNews.com that "petroleum reserves are estimated at 3.7 billion oil barrels and 43 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, referring to a plan for increasing investments of the foreign companies - working in petroleum drilling in Egypt by giving priority to nontraditional and new locations." Go

Egyptian Minister of Finance Medhat Hasanein asserted that his government will not impose new taxes during the current fiscal year (2000/2001) and that no taxation will be canceled during this period. Minister Hasanein told ArabicNews.com that there is a plan to enhance collection of the imposed taxes by enhancing the relations between the tax department and tax payers and developing an arbitration system to resolve conflicts without resorting to courts. Go

Egyptian assistant foreign minister Gamal Baoumi delivered a written message from Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa toTunisian counterpart El-Habeeb Bin Yehia concerning the bilateral relation between the two states in view of meeting of the joint supreme committee in last month in Cairo. Go

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will deliver a comprehensive political speech in celebration of the Egyptian Labor Day on April 30, in which he will tackle important internal and external issues. Mubarak will also meet with leaders of the labor unions in an open discussion concerning the policies of the economic reform and indications of economic achievement, future challenges, bringing advanced technology to Egypt, the Egyptian government's adherence to increasing workers' income within available limits and decreasing the inflation average and the volume of external debts. Go

Mauritanian President Mouaouiya Ould Sid Ahmed Taya received in Nouakchott this Thursday Secretary of state for foreign affairs and cooperation, and envoy of King Mohammed VI, Taieb Fassi Fihri. Go

The Syrian permanent commission at the UN in New York held a reception on the occasion of the 54th anniversary of the Evacuation Day. It was attended by the UN Chief Kofi Annan. It was also attended high-ranking officials at the UN and crowds from the Syrian community in New York and New Jersey. Go

Jordanian Minister of Water and Irrigation Kamel Mahadin has asserted that the establishment of al-Wahda dam is the solution and guarantee to storing any water from floods that may take place in al-Yarmouk river. Go

Egyptian Environment Minister, Nadia Makram Obeid, is expected next Sunday in Morocco to examine with officials bilateral cooperation in environment issues. Moroccan-Egyptian talks are expected to be crowned with an agreement in environment preservation. Go

Iraqi Vice President Taha Yasin Ramadan assured in his interview with the Satellite Qatari Jazira channel his country's readiness to start a discussion with the USA, on basis of equality and respect, to determine an agenda for this discussion on base of the causes of joint concern and not a discussion between master and slaves. Go

The Austrian corporation for guaranteeing risks for investments abroad - said it will add Egypt to the countries in which the corporation will guarantee European and Austrian projects. Go

It was decided to convene the meetings of the joint Egyptian - Pakistani committee in Islamabad at the end of this year to discuss steps to support bilateral cooperation between the two countries, among which are establishing a free trade zone and a joint business council, supporting joint cooperation between the two countries in all fields, increasing the volume of investment, and increasing commercial and economic exchange. Go

Many Egyptian business organizations are discussing establishing a free trade zone for Egyptian products in Djibouti on a space that varies between 20,000 and 30,000 square meters. Go

Indonesia's foreign minister, Alawi Shehab, arrived in Muscat on Thursday in a visit to Oman which will last for two days. The Gulf News Agency stated that the Indonesian president will hold talks during his visit with the Omani minister in charge of foreign affairs, Youssef Bin Alawi Abdullah, on several issues of concern to the two countries. Talks will also deal with issues to be discussed during the meeting which will be convened in Jakarta in May on areas of investments in Indonesia. Go

Islam Halimof, the assistant of the Chechnyan president Aslan Meskhadof hailed the Egyptian role in the Chechnyan crisis and the humanitarian aids for the Chechnyan people in the refugees' camps. Halimof told ArabicNews.com in concluding his visit to Egypt today that "the Russian army is using the chemical weapons against civilians and the Chechnyan resistance forces" adding that the resistance forces are not terrorist organizations as Moscow alleges, referring that it is fabricated accusations by Russian President Putin to achieve political gains, emphasizing continued resistance until complete independence is obtained. Go