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| Egyptians have called for political reform and media freedom at home [EPA] |
Egypt is set to use its president's visit to Washington to trumpet its position as a key US ally and major regional player.
Hosni Mubarak and Barack Obama, the US president, are expected to discuss a number of regional issues including the pivotal Palestinian-Israeli peace process, Iran's nuclear programme, stabilising Iraq, and fighting armed Islamist groups throughout the Middle East.
But many ordinary Egyptians, who once cared about their country's foreign policy, may no longer be interested in such talks.
Abdullah al-Ashaal, a professor of international relations and law at the American University in Cairo, says Egyptians will tune out because they believe the meetings in Washington on Tuesday will follow "an elitist agenda that has no direct link to the ordinary Egyptian citizen".
Al-Ashal, a critic of Egyptian foreign policy who describes himself as an independent political intellectual, said: "The most important item on Mubarak's agenda in Washington is to visit the White House. The man has in the past lost hope in visiting the White House and he has been dreaming about this visit."
Mubarak has not visited the US since 2004, when the administration of George Bush, Obama's predecessor, pressed the Egyptian government on political plurality and democratisation.
Source: Al Jazeera (English)
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