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Short Takes:
The Kuwaiti daily al-Rai al-Am issued on Wednesday quoted sources close to the meeting of the defense ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council, held in Dubai, as saying that Oman and Qatar had conservative positions over signing a common agreement among the GCC member states. The sources said no mention was given to this agreement during the inaugural speeches, adding that Muscat views this agreement as such as a matter to be decided by the leaders of the Gulf states, while Doha considers it as bearing political dimensions. Go

Moroccan Prime Minister Abderrahmane Youssoufi in Rabat a meeting here Wednesday with Portuguese Foreign Minister Jaime Gama who paid a short visit to Morocco. Talks covered the issue of Morocco's territorial integrity and the political developments in the kingdom. Go

Mohamed Amamou, the secretary general of the Arab Maghreb Union (UMA)arrived in Nouakchott yesterday evening on a visit to Mauritania. Amamou said he will hold discussions with Mauritanian officials regarding issues concerning the UMA, especially Mauritania's establishment of full diplomatic relations with Israel without consultations with the other members of the union and revitalizing the union's role in the coming period, in spite of the numerous political problems among the member states (Libya, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria and Mauritania). Go

The first conference for Egyptian and Greek businessmen is meeting today in Alexandria under the title, "Horizons of the Greek Investment in Egypt," under the auspices of Egyptian Prime Minister Atef Ebeid and organized by the National Bank, aiming at increasing Greek investment in Egypt and enhancing relations with Greek businessmen of Egyptian origin. Mahmoud Abdul Aziz, chairman of the conference, said that the most important projects were raised in maritime transportation, due to Greece's experience in this area, in addition to tourism projects, food industries, fabrics and textiles and ready-made clothes. Go

Lebanese President Emile Lahoud received a message on Wednesday in Beirut from Iranian President Muhammad Khatami. The message pertains to bilateral relations, the situation in south Lebanon and developments concerning the Middle East peace process. The Iranian president voiced his country's all-out support for Lebanon in its militant struggle to put an end to the Israeli occupation of its territories. Go

Sources at the Dubai 2000 International Aerospace Exhibition asserted yesterday that the USA is using political pressure to win a transaction to sell passenger airplanes to Libya, saying that Washington seeks to bring the sales to the Boeing company instead of the European Airbus. The sale includes 24 airplanes valued at 5 to 7 billion US dollars. Go

Egyptian Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Mufid Shehab said the Egyptian government adheres to making a strategy for developing its universities and higher education to cope with the third millenium, saying that the World Bank agreed on a plan to develop Egyptian universities worth $100 million that includes establishing many laboratories for the Internet, medical, natural and humanitarian sciences in more that 15 Egyptian universities all over Egypt'. Go

The works of the sixth conference of the Mediterranean Sea basin for epilepsy, which is organized by the Egyptian association for treating epilepsy in association with the world association for epilepsy, opened yesterday in Cairo and will last for three days. Go

The Moroccans gained all individual and team titles in the First Arab Military Cross Country Championships held November 6-11 in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. In the long distance (12 km), Morocco ranked first before Algeria and Tunisia. In the short cross (4 km), Moroccan runners also dominated the race trailed by Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Go