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In what will be the first ever meeting of a Maltese Foreign Minister with an American Secretary of State, Foreign Minister John Dalli will be meeting US Secretary of State General Colin Powell and other personalities from the political and business sectors this Thursday in Washington.
At the invitation of US Secretary of State Colin Powell, Minister of Foreign Affairs John Dalli will travel to Washington to meet with Secretary Powell at the US Department of State on May 20.
US Ambassador to Malta Anthony H. Gioia will accompany Foreign Minister Dalli during his Washington meetings, which are scheduled to include a visit to the White House and meetings with officials at the National Security Council.
The meetings will take place in an environment of extensive and important developments in the Mediterranean Region and the Middle East. The situation in the Middle East is seen to be worsening day by day, and that in Iraq is also very bleak, although a transfer of power to an Iraqi administration is still said to be on schedule to take place at the end of June. Malta and the US enjoy strong bilateral relations and Malta plays an important strategic role in counter-terrorism and non-proliferation efforts.
While in the United States, it is expected that among the issues Minister Dalli and Secretary Powell will discuss, will be Malta’s recent accession to the European Union, cooperation in the global war on terrorism, and opportunities for American investment in Malta, particularly following the easing of US sanctions against Libya. |
