Pak PM may meet Bush on sidelines of WEF

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is expected to have his first meeting with US President George W Bush in Egypt when the two leaders attend the World Economic Forum on the Middle East this weekend.
    
Bush and Gilani will hold a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the meeting to be held at the Egyptian resort of Sharm El Sheikh during May 18-20.
    
This will also be the first high-level political contact between Pakistan and the US after the new Pakistan People's Party-led coalition came to power in Islamabad.
    
Awami National Party president Asfandyar Wali Khan, who has emerged as Pakistan's pointsman for implementing the new government's anti-terror strategy, will travel to Egypt with Gilani, The News quoted diplomatic sources as saying.
    
Khan made an unannounced visit to the US earlier this month to discuss the government's anti-terror policy with top American officials.
    
Gilani is expected to hold several other bilateral meetings with world leaders, including Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, on the sidelines of the WEF meet, sources in the Foreign Office said. A "chance meeting" with Israeli President Shimon Peres, who has confirmed his participation in the meet, could not be ruled out, they said.
    
Bush will fly to Egypt after important visits to Saudi Arabia and Israel.
    
Gilani is scheduled to leave for Egypt on Saturday for his first foreign visit after assuming office in March. The Prime Minister will be accompanied by some cabinet ministers, parliamentarians and senior officials during his two-day visit.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmud Qureshi and Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir will not accompany Gilani due to the upcoming talks with their Indian counterparts here on May 20-21.
    
The meet in Sharm El Sheikh would bring together over1,500 participants from 55 countries, including Prime Minister Salam Fayyad of the Palestinian National Authority, King Abdullah of Jordan, the prime ministers of Qatar and Kuwait and President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan.
    
Tony Blair, the UN's Middle East Quartet envoy, IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei and the World Bank president will also take part in the meeting.