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Wednesday, 16 January 2008, 10:05 GMT

Bush ends Mid-East tour in Egypt

Hosni Mubarak greets George W Bush on arrival US President George W Bush is wrapping up his eight-day tour of the Middle East with a brief stop in Egypt.

He flew from Saudi Arabia to meet Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. From there he heads home to Washington.

Analysts say relations between the two allies have cooled, particularly over US calls for Egypt to do more to secure its border with the Gaza Strip.

During his trip, Mr Bush also visited Israel, the West Bank and Gulf states.

On the final leg of his 14,500-mile (23,300-km) journey, the White House says Mr Bush will thank the Egyptians for their support on the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

Little time

But the BBC's Matthew Price, who is travelling with Mr Bush, has been told that the US president will be stressing the need for security in the Gaza Strip.

This means pushing Cairo to do more to stop militants smuggling weapons from Egypt into the Palestinian territory, our correspondent says.

Last month, the US Congress suspended $100m (£51m) of its annual military aid to Egypt, demanding that Cairo crack down on arms smuggling into Gaza, which has been under the control of Hamas since June.

Protest against Mr Bush's visit in Cairo on 15 January 2008

Our correspondent says Mr Bush will also discuss democracy - or more accurately, the lack of it - in Egypt.

The White House has in the past raised concerns over Egypt's human rights record and court cases against the independent press.

But with Mr Bush scheduled to stop for barely four hours, correspondents say the two leaders are not expected to make much headway on any issue.

Egypt's banned opposition Muslim Brotherhood - which controls a fifth of the seats in parliament - staged a protest in Cairo on Tuesday against the visit.

During his tour of Israel and the West Bank, Mr Bush predicted that a peace deal could be sealed before his term ends in January 2009.

On his two-day visit to Saudi Arabia, the US president raised concerns over oil prices.

He also criticised Iran and spoke about progress in Iraq during his tour, which included Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.



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Related to this story:
Country profile: Egypt (24 May 01 |  Country profiles )
Bush concern over high oil prices (15 Jan 08 |  Middle East )
Arms offer as Bush visits Saudis (16 Jan 08 |  Middle East )
Bush to discuss Iran with Saudis (14 Jan 08 |  Middle East )
Confront Iran danger early - Bush (13 Jan 08 |  Middle East )
Massive disruption for Bush visit (09 Jan 08 |  Middle East )

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