Al-Assad to visit Egypt next week

Egyptian diplomatic sources asserted that Syrian President Hafez al-Assad is expected to visit Egypt during the coming week to resume consultations with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to push forward the peace process in the Middle East.

The sources stated that al-Assad and Mubarak will hold a session of bilateral talks in Sharm El-Sheikh through which al-Assad will present Damascus' perception of the necessary basis for resuming negotiations on the Syrian - Israeli track and that the session will tackle the effects of the Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon scheduled to take place in July.