CAIRO (AP) — President Joe Biden’s national security adviser held talks Wednesday with Egypt’s president that focused on regional tensions and the ties between Washington and its Mideast ally, the Egyptian leader’s office said.
The meeting in Cairo with Jake Sullivan came as the Biden administration presses Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi’s government to stop his crackdown on dissent. The U.S. announced this month it would withhold $130 million in military aid to Egypt over human rights concerns.
The two sides discussed Egypt’s human rights strategy, and officials from the U.S. delegation highlighted the importance the White House sees of the el-Sissi government improving its record on the matter, according to a senior Biden administration official.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukry attended the talks, which came after Sullivan paid visits to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for talks focused on the war in Yemen.
El-Sissi’s office said in a statement the talks also addressed efforts to revive peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians amid rising tensions between the Jewish state and the Hamas militant group.
