Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will leave on Tuesday for short visits to Germany and Italy to discuss Middle East peace negotiations, the state news agency MENA said. Mubarak will meet Chancellor Angela Merkel during a visit to Berlin that will last only a few hours, then head to Rome to have talks with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and open a newly renovated Egyptian arts academy on Thursday. "The discussions in Berlin and Rome will centre around the peace negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis" as well as regional issues and bilateral relations, MENA said. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, intelligence chief Omar Suleiman and presidential chief of staff Zakaria Azmi will accompany Mubarak, it added. He will return to Egypt later on Thursday, Reuters reported.
