Mubarak to visit Damascus next week

Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak is set to visit Damascus next week for talks with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad, according to Syrian government sources.

The talks will focus on how Syria should respond to a United Nations request that it cooperate with an investigation into the assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafik al-Hariri. Mubarak and al-Assad are expected to discuss measures that will satisfy both the UN and the Syrian government, some of whose top officials have been implicated in the 14 February 2005 killing of Hariri and 20 others in Beirut.

Egypt along with several other Arab states, including Qatar, whose foreign minister Hamad Bin Jasim recently visited Damascus, is trying to persuade Syria to cooperate with the UN commission while at the same time attempting to find a face-saving strategy for Damascus.