In the highest-level American official visit to Egypt Since 2009, Egyptian President Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi received on Saturday US Vice President Mike Pence at the presidential palace in Cairo. The American official has started a Middle East tour that also includes Jordan and Israel with the aim to boost peace process in the region.
Al-Sisi and Pence held intensive talks over a number of urgent issues, including ways to eliminate the threat of terrorism that has terrified the whole world. Pence pointed to President Donald Trump s efforts to forge stronger ties with Al-Sisi in his first year in office, after a time when both countries seemed to be drifting apart.
Pence tweeted “We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Egypt in the fight against terrorism,” and that “our hearts grieve” for the loss of life in recent terrorist attacks against Egyptians.
Pence s visit came amid Egyptian and Arab anger over Washington s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, breaking the long-standing U.S. policy in the Middle East. Pence had been scheduled to meet Al Azhar s Grand Imam, Ahmed Al-Tayyeb, and Coptic Pope Tawadros II during the current visit, but both religious leaders revoked their invitations.
