By Amr Shaheen BBC Sport, Dubai

Hazem Emam is in the provisional 23-man squad

Egypt will be joining Kenya, Iraq and hosts Bahrain for a four-team tournament that is taking place from 12-18 December.

Egyptian officials see the event as further opportunity for the Pharaohs to prepare ahead of the forthcoming 2004 Nations Cup finals in Tunisia.

But the number of obligations and matches facing Egypt's international footballers means that officials found it difficult to raise a team.

As a result, only a weakened side will travel to Bahrain on 9 December.

The Pharaohs will choose from a squad of just 15 players for the first match against Kenya on 12 December.

Abdel Haleem Aly, Sameh Youssef and Tamer Abdel Hameed - three Zamalek players currently participating with the national military team in the World Military Championship - will wait until the tournament ends on 11 December before joining up with the squad.

The north Africans would only have a full side when they play their second match against Bahrain on 15 December.

Salah Hosny, an official of the Egyptian team, had asked the Bahraini Federation to postpone the Pharaohs' matches for 48 hours but his request was refused due to the commitments of the remaining teams as well as the broadcasting rights that had been sold for the event.

However, the Bahraini Federation did permit the Egyptians to send a 22-man squad for the tournament, instead of a 20-man team.

This still means that one player in the provisional 23-man team will be dropped.

Egypt play their final match against Iraq on 18 December.

Squad: