• 20:21
  • Wednesday ,24 September 2014
العربية

Obama to meet Sisi in New York

By Egypt Independent

Home News

00:09

Wednesday ,24 September 2014

Obama to meet Sisi in New York

President Barack Obama will hold his first official meetings with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly this week.

Obama will meet Sisi on Thursday in New York, where the United Nations General Assembly is taking place, National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said.

Obama will be holding official talks with Sisi for the first time. The former army chief was elected president in May, nearly a year after toppling Egypt's first elected leader, Islamist Mohamed Morsy.

The political drama in Cairo put Washington in the familiar position of trying to balance its public support for human rights and democracy in Cairo with its desire to maintain links with a pivotal regional power.

Obama will also hold talks with new Iraqi PM Haidar al-Abadi, Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn and Spain's new King Felipe VI, the White House said.

The president's talks with Abadi will center on US bombing raids on Islamic State group forces in Iraq, which followed the finalization of a new government in Baghdad.