CAIRO - President Hosni Mubarak will start Monday a two-day Gulf tour that will take him to the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain, a presidential spokesman said sunday.
"Mubarak's tour is part of his continuous consultation and coordination with his brethren Arab leaders of the three states," spokesman Suleiman Awwad was quoted by the official Middle East News Agency (MENA) as saying.
He added that the visit came ahead of the United Arab Emirates celebration of its 39th National Day. "This visit shows the historic, well-established ties between Egypt and the Gulf countries," Awwad said.
Mubarak will also hold talks with the three leaders on regional issues and security in the Gulf, according to the spokesman.
The Egyptian President has not been to Doha since 2006; even he did not show up during an Arab summit in March 2009, attended by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Mubarak was scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia on Saturday for talks with King Abdullah bin Abdelaziz, who flew Sunday to the US for check-ups over a slipped disc.
