Welch: Egyptians can have free, transparent presidential election
Egypt-USA, Politics, 8/19/2005

US Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs David Welch said today that the US administration was confident that Egyptians can hold free, democratic and transparent presidential election.

Emerging from a meeting with Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif earlier in the day, Welch lauded President Hosni Mubarak's constitution amending initiative.

The whole world is closely following up the Egyptian democratic experience currently in action, he said.

Egypt would be an example to follow for the Middle East states, he elaborated.

The upcoming election in Egypt opens the door for political reform in Egypt and the Arab world, he added.

After his meeting with Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Near East David Welch said that the talks with Nazif dwelt on boosting bilateral ties in all domains in addition to ways to push the Middle East peace process forward.

There was US-Egyptian cooperation in the face of current challenges especially in fighting international terrorism, he said.

The two countries have held contacts on issues pertaining to Israeli withdrawal from Gaza Strip and bringing about brighter future for both the Palestinians and Israelis, he added.

Welch drew attention to the US President George Bush's vision on setting up a Palestinian state to live in peace side-by-side with Israel.

On Egypt-US trade exchange, Welch said that Washington was targeting bolstering ties and increasing Egyptian exports to the US markets, adding that the Qualified Industrial Zones (QIZ) protocol was aimed to do so.

The USAID would continue offering aid to Egypt for years in the light of the economic achievements attained by the Egyptian government over the recent years, he said.

On his part, Egyptian Cabinet Spokesman Magdi Radi said that the meeting was part of Egypt-US contacts with the aim of beefing up ties in all domains.

The political aspect was also part of the talks, the spokesman said, adding that the US was interested in the Egyptian political reform experience, like other world countries, which wished the Egyptian political reform and elections would set an example for other countries in the region to follow.

Previous Stories:
  Egypt election commission first meeting   (8/18/2005)
  Mubarak vows end to emergency law   (8/18/2005)
  Egypt's presidential campaign starts today   (8/17/2005)
  Interior minister receives US congress delegation   (8/5/2005)
  US concerned by Egypt's treatment of the opposition   (8/2/2005)
  The Guardian: The US broke Italian law by kidnapping Egyptian cleric   (7/2/2005)

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