Mubarak to visit Syria for further coordination and consultation

Arab diplomatic sources stated that a visit to be carried out by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to Damascus will be made within the few coming days in the course of continued coordination and consultation between the two countries.

The sources said in a statement to the Kuwaiti daily al-Rai al-Am on Monday that they expect Presidents Hafez al-Assad and Hosni Mubarak to concentrate their talks on recent developments in the region, especially the stumbled Middle East peace process and the possibility of reviving the French - Egyptian initiative after everybody has become convinced of the inability of the US administration to place more pressure on the Israeli prime minister.

The sources added that the second topic the two presidents will address, which is of no less importance than the Middle East peace process, is the consequences and results of the US military strike on Iraq and the possibility of coordinating the two countries' stances in light of the Egyptian decision that the Iraqi regime is responsible for what took place.