Egypt Loves Sharon?

I wonder what backroom pressure led to this.

CAIRO – Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said on Saturday Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was the only Israeli politician capable of forging peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
“If he has the desire for a solution, I think he is the only one, and I don’t think there is anybody else apparent on the Israeli political scene,” said Mubarak, whose country has played a major role in Israeli-Palestinian peace making.

Maybe it’s true, maybe it’s not. I doubt it, but I don’t know. It’s not very likely that Hosni Mubarak believes it. But he said so to a group of Egyptian students in Alexandria.
Did somebody have a nice little chat about the 2 billion dollars in aid money we give Egypt every year?