The United States is forging new military aid pacts with Middle East allies to counter “negative” influences by al-Qaeda and Hizbullah, as well as Syria and Iran, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Monday.

Ahead of her trip to the Middle East with Defence Secretary Robert Gates, she confirmed that efforts were under way to conclude new 10-year military assistance deals with Israel providing a total of $30 billion and with Egypt worth $13 billion.

“In advance of my trip to the Middle East with Secretary Gates, I am pleased to announce a renewed commitment to the security of our key strategic partners in the region,” Rice said in a statement before her trip beginning on Monday.

To support continued US diplomatic engagement in the region, she said Washington was “forging new assistance agreements with the Gulf States, Israel, and Egypt. “This effort will help bolster forces of moderation and support a broader strategy to counter the negative influences of al-Qaeda, Hizbullah, Syria, and Iran,” she said.

Washington was beginning discussions with Cairo on a new 10-year, $13-billion military assistance agreement “which will strengthen Egypt’s ability to address shared strategic goals,” she said.

She confirmed Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announcement at the weekend of a new $30 billion US defence package to preserve Israel’s regional military superiority. “We will move soon to conclude a new 10-year military assistance agreement with Israel. This agreement will provide a total of $30 billion to ensure Israel’s ability to defend itself,” she said.

Rice also said the United States planned to “initiate discussions” with Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf states on a proposed package of military technologies “that will help support their ability to secure peace and stability in the Gulf region.”

She did not provide any figures for the package but reports have cited arms deals worth at least $20 billion with Saudi Arabia and the five other Gulf states — the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman. President George W Bush had asked US Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns to travel to Israel and the region in mid-August to finalize these agreements, Rice said.

“Further modernising the Egyptian and Saudi Armed Forces and increasing interoperability will bolster our partners’ resolve in confronting the threat of radicalism and cement their respective roles as regional leaders in the quest for Middle East peace and in ensuring Lebanon’s freedom and independence,” she explained.

The Bush administration plans to consult closely with Congress and its allies on the specifics of these agreements, she said. Rice and Gates will make rare joint visits to Egypt and Saudi Arabia before separate trips to other parts of the region.

In Egypt, they are scheduled to meet ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries as well as Jordan and Egypt in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh. Amid growing calls at home to withdraw US forces in Iraq, the duo are also expected to reaffirm US commitment to regional security against possible threats from Iran and its nuclear programme.

In addition, Washington is expected to underline concerns that some Sunni Arab nations are offering financial aid to foreign fighters fuelling the insurgency against the fragile Shia-led, US-backed government in Baghdad. Washington is particularly concerned that its most powerful Sunni Arab ally, Saudi Arabia, is bankrolling Sunni militants and serving as a conduit for them to stoke the insurgency in Iraq.

Aside from Saudi Arabia, foreign fighters flowing into Iraq via US arch-enemy Syria come from Qatar and Yemen, among other Middle East allies, US officials said. But in a bid to soothe concerns of the pro-Western Sunni nations worried about Shia Iran, Washington is expected to discuss the military aid packages and arms sales with them. Rice will travel separately to Jerusalem and Ramallah for meetings with Israeli and Palestinian officials.

The News International