TORONTO -- Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak arrived in Ottawa Monday for a two-day state visit and talks with Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.
Mubarak, who spent a private weekend in Toronto, was greeted at Ottawa's CFB Uplands Airport by Governor General Edward Schreyer and about 60 members of the Egyptian-Canadian community who held pictures of the Egyptian president and chanted 'Long Live Egypt.'
In a brief welcoming ceremony, Mubarak said 'Canada has shared with us a commitment for the promotion of peace and the possibilities of all nations.'
'We shall continue to work together toward this end,' he added.
Officials said Mubarak was to brief Trudeau on Middle East issues and would seek reaffirmation of Canada's support for Egypt's role in achieving a peace settlement.
Discussions were expected also to touch on an Egypt-Canada nuclear cooperation deal signed last year, with Trudeau expected to make a pitch for the possible sale of Candu nuclear reactors to Egypt.
Canadian officials are to travel to Cairo next month to present a detailed proposal on the reactor.
The Egyptian leader ended talks with U.S. officials in New York Friday with a call for a quick Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon and warned American Jewish leaders he was under growing Arab pressure to break ties wih Israel.
Mubarak, his wife, Suzan, and their son Gamal, who arrived in Toronto Saturday from New York, visited Niagara Falls Sunday, but had to view the popular tourist attraction from under a huge umbrella during a heavy rain.
James Fleming, federal minister of state for multiculturalism, accompanied the Mubaraks on the hour-long drive from Toronto.
'Traditionally this is the place where married couples come on their honeymoon,' Fleming told Mubarak.
After their stopover, the president and his entourage of 15 limousines drove along the scenic Niagara River to the nearby small community of Niagara-on-the-Lake where they had lunch with Ontario Energy Minister Robert Welch.
Security around the presidential party was tight, and a presidential aide said Mubarak had asked for privacy during the weekend. An Egyptian government spokesman said Mubarak, the first Egyptian leader to visit Canada, had requested the visit to Niagara Falls.
A busload of 30 Egyptian journalists accompanying the president snapped pictures and bought souvenirs at the Falls, which provide hydroelectric power to much of Ontario and New York state.
On Saturday night, Mubarak's 18-year-old son, Gamal, took in a National Hockey League game in Toronto.
