The United States' highest-ranking general on Saturday met the head of the Egyptian interim military government to discuss a series of arrests of US pro-democracy activists.

General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, became the first senior US official to visit Cairo since charges were brought against 43 foreign and Egyptian activists.

A spokesman for Dempsey confirmed that the cases of Western activists had been discussed in the meeting with Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, along with "a wide range of issues related to the long-standing security relationship between our two countries."

The arrests have significantly strained relations between Egypt and the US, which supplies Cairo with an annual $1.3 billion (1 billion euros) in military aid.

About 20 of those who were arrested, and who have been told they may not leave the country, are US citizens. An undisclosed number have taken refuge in the US embassy.

The Egyptian government denies allegations that the arrests were politically motivated. It claims the activists were detained because they were working for unregistered organizations.

Review announced, more arrests

Following the meeting, Egypt's government issued a statement saying it was reviewing laws that regulate the work of non-governmental organizations in Egypt.

A series of arrests have been made after Egyptian authorities raided the offices of several groups in December, including the US National Democratic Institute and the German Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

However, two more Westerners were arrested with in hours of the meeting, accused of paying people to take part in protests on the first anniversary of the downfall of leader Hosni Mubarak.

Police said that they had arrested two individuals, an Australian reporter and an American university student.

State news agency MENA said the pair were detained with their Egyptian translator in the city of al-Mahalla al-Kubra, north of Cairo.

Strikes and protests in the country's main universities on Saturday attracted relatively small numbers.

Activists are impatient with the pace of political reform in Egypt and have called for an immediate end to army rule. The military council headed by Tantawi has pledged to hand over to an elected president at the end of June.

rc/ng (AFP, AP, Reuters)