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Jiang starts talks with Mubarak

ALEXANDRIA: Chinese President Jiang Zemin met Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Monday for talks expected to focus on Middle East peace and economic cooperation.

Mubarak received Jiang, who has just completed a six-day visit to Israel and Palestinian-ruled areas, with an honour guard and national anthems at the seafront Ras el-Tin palace in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria.

Egypt's defence, foreign affairs and information ministers joined Mubarak for a scheduled hour and a half of talks with Jiang and his delegation, witnesses said.

The Chinese head of state was due to tour the Qaitbey citadel, a harbour fort built by Egypt's Mameluke rulers in the 15th century, in the afternoon before leaving for Turkey.

On Saturday, Jiang visited Palestinian-ruled Bethlehem in the West Bank, where President Yasser Arafat asked him to name a special envoy to play a role in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

China has long been a supporter of Palestinian rights and statehood aspirations.

Its ties with Israel have grown with purchases of Israeli military hardware, although the United States has pressed Israel to scrap the sale of a surveillance aircraft which Washington fears could upset the military balance in the Taiwan Strait.-Reuters