Mubarak confers with French, Bahraini officials

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Wednesday received the French minister of tourism, a member of the French Communist Party, who arrived in Cairo on Tuesday. Present at the meeting were Egyptian Tourism Minister Mamdouh al-Beltagi and the French ambassador in Cairo. Mubarak also met separately with Bahrain's acting defense minister, Sheikh Salman Bin Hamad al-Khaliefa, who conveyed to President Mubarak a message from the ruler of Bahrain Sheikh Issa Bin Salman al-Khaleifa.