On July 25, the first summit was held between the EU and South Africa in Bordeaux, south France. The summit came few days after wrapping up the Union for the Mediterranean summit which President Mubarak and French President Nicolas Sarkozy co-chair it. Hence, the visit of President Mubarak to South Africa is of top importance given that Egypt chaired the African Union summit in Sharm el-Sheikh in which 52 countries participated and co-chair the UFM. Mubarak and South African President Thabo Mbeki would review a number of files that were tackled during the AU summit in Sharm el-Sheikh and the UFM summit in Paris. The AU summit in Sharm el-Sheikh witnessed the participation of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe after re-electing him in controversial elections. The EU adopted hard stance on Mugabe's reelection and threatened to impose economic sanctions on Zimbabwe. Hence, Mbeki is currently mediating to end Zimbabwe's crisis.

At the same time, Egypt is keen on bringing to an end the problems of Africa which include drought, desertification, the shortage of resources and the rocketing food prices. In fact, the two largest African countries are seeking to solve the problems which Africa suffers from, including the crisis of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir with the International Criminal Court. In fact, Egypt proposed positive concepts which Arab League Chief Amr Moussa conveyed to Khartoum. These concepts include strengthening the local Sudanese law and trialing the defendants in Darfur crisis, and cooperating fully with the UN staffs operating in the region. On the other hand, Egypt and South Africa are seeking economic and political integration, particularly that Egypt's national security is closely connected to that of Africa. It is not a secret, however, that South Africa- in which the largest Jewish community in the continent lives- adopts stances in support of the Palestinian rights in the international forums.

Mohamed Ali Ibrahim

30 / 7 / 2008