Egypt

Mubarak has faced strong criticism in much of the Arab media since giving qualified support to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s Gaza pullout plans, though censorship prevents similar views from being freely expressed in domestic publications. The president gave his support to the plan when visiting US President George Bush in April, two days before a major reversal of White House policy on West Bank settlements (Bush appeared to pre-judge final status negotiations by saying some settlements would remain). This policy shift has proved embarassing for Mubarak, whose influence with the US is also being questioned as no Free Trade

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