CAIRO: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry asserted Obama administration’s keenness to cooperate with Egypt to counter common threats, Presidential spokesperson Alaa Youssef said in a statement Sunday.
Kerry, who visited Cairo Sunday to co-chair the U.S.-Egypt ‘strategic dialogue’, met with President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi and passed on a letter from U.S. President Barack Obama.
“Obama has expressed his hope that the strategic dialogue between both countries would enhance cooperation in all fields, participate in the comprehensive development sought by Egypt, and enrich the bilateral economic and trade relations,” Youssef said.
During the meeting, Sisi highlighted Egypt’s efforts in facilitating bureaucratic procedures for foreign investors to establish projects in the country.
Sisi and Kerry have discussed the f Palestine-Israel conflict, which Sisi affirmed it comes on top of Egypt’s foreign policy agenda. Kerry expressed his country’s support to the Egyptian efforts concerning this issue.
Sisi stressed that the four-year-old Syrian crisis should be solved politically and praised Egypt’s efforts in facing radical Islam group seeking to expand their presence in whole region.
Kerry’s meeting with Sisi came after the meetings of the Cairo-hosted U.S.-Egypt strategic dialogue that has been suspended since 2009.
During the opening session of the dialogue, Kerry affirmed his country aims to support Egypt to “double its economic growth.”
The relations between both sides have soared due to human rights conditions in August 2013, when U.S. suspended part of the $1.3 billion aid to Egypt after the dispersal of the pro-Muslim Brotherhood sit-ins in Rabaa and Nahdah squares.
However, In April 2014, relations improved when the Pentagon announced that the suspended aid would be released. In November 2014, Egypt received the suspended 10 Apache fighter jets.
During the dialogue meetings, Kerry said his country support Egypt in its combat against terrorism in restive North Sinai; Four days ago, the U.S. embassy in Cairo stated that U.S. has sent Egypt eight advanced F-16 fighter jets as part of 1.3 U.S. military aids to Egypt to combat “terrorism.” Four more fighter jets will be delivered to Egypt this fall.