Obama to Reach For Olive Branches With Egypt's President
Mubarak returns to White House after tiff with Bush
Updated 8:55 AM EDT, Tue, Aug 18, 2009
President Obama will welcome Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to the White House today for talks on repairing the frayed U.S. relationship with Egypt, curtailing Iran's nuclear program and kick starting the Middle East peace process.
Mubarak, 81, a regular White House guest during Bill Clinton's presidency, has steered clear of the U.S. for the last five years in protest over the war in Iraq and over former President Bush's criticism of Mubarak's human rights record, according to The Associated Press.
This will be the third meeting in three months between Obama and Mubarak.
"You have this much younger man who is the leader of the world and the elder statesman who has been in power for 28 years in the largest, arguably most influential Arab state," Steven Cook, a Middle East expert who is writing a book about both countries, told Reuters. "There is this effort to build a personal chemistry."
First Published: Aug 18, 2009 3:37 AM EDT
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