Mubarak promised in an interview published Thursday that the year 2007 would witness unprecedented constitutional reforms. "The year 2007 will witness a surge in constitutional reforms which coincide with political progress" in Egypt, Mubarak told the state-owned Al-Ahram daily's evening edition. He added that, for the time being, he was deploying maximum efforts to promulgate "all the laws and legislation that forward political and economic reform, with the hope of completing the process by the end of 2006." Mubarak's government has been criticized at home and abroad, including by its top US ally, for dragging its feet on the sweeping reforms promised during the long-time president's re-election campaign last year. Asked about US-Egyptian relations, Mubarak said that ties with Washington remained "good and strong." "There are a lot of points of agreement and others of contention, but this is one of the strength points in bilateral ties, which are based on honesty, transparency and independence," he added.