From AFP…

Even as Egypt gears up to play host to another international conference on Iraq, its role in the region is looking ceremonial and toothless compared to the successes of Saudi Arabia.
Analysts argue that diplomatic endeavors to solve the crises in Sudan, Lebanon, Iraq, and the Palestinian territories have exposed the decline of Egypt as a key powerbroker.
“After 26 years of reign, the Pharaoh is growing tired,” said Antoine Basbous, who heads the Observatoire des Pays Arabes, a Paris-based think tank on the Arab world. “The Egyptian regime is running out of steam, takes few initiatives, and is constantly on the back foot,” he added.
World leaders shuttling across the Middle East to find fixes to the region’s woes still stop over at President Hosni Mubarak’s palace to lend a respectful ear to the veteran leader’s advice.
The May 3 to 4 talks on restoring security in Iraq are taking place in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh but observers argue that Egypt’s role is increasingly confined to lending its resort facilities.
“Egypt is merely hosting the conference but it will have no influence on the substance,” said Imad Gad, a political analyst with the Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies. “The fact that Saudi Arabia plays a prominent role in the affairs of Iraq is not surprising but it is much more striking to see it take the lead on the traditionally Egyptian files of Palestine and Sudan,” he said.
Statements from foreign diplomats visiting Cairo are still peppered with praise for “Egypt’s central role” in the region, but few foreign powers still take their cue from Cairo, he argued.
“Egypt is too busy preparing the tricky succession to Gamal Mubarak and striking deals with the US administration on economic and democratic reform … so it has given up its regional role,” Gad said.

Click on Fathi Abul Ezz’s cartoon below to read the full report…