Military, security cooperation between Egypt, U.S. is priority

CAIRO – 1 November 2017: Strong security and military cooperation between Egypt and the United States is a top priority for the U.S. because of Egypt’s efforts in fighting terrorism in the Middle East, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz said on Wednesday.

Cruz welcomed on Wednesday the delegation of parliamentarians led by the Egyptian Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel Aal during their six-day visit to the United States.

Abdel Aal expressed his gratitude for the efforts exerted by Cruz in fighting terrorism when he introduced a bill to ask the Secretary of State to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as an international terrorist organization.

He stressed that it is important to promote cooperation between the United States and Egypt in the fields of security and military to preserve peace and security in the Middle East.

He further confirmed that military aid should not be related to policy conditionality so as to prevent it from negatively impacting Egypt’s efforts in fighting terrorism and bilateral relations.

On the other hand, Abdel Aal referred to the international community supporting Egypt’s economic reform, adding that steps are taken to protect the vulnerable population by providing them with food, aid, medicine, health, security and vocational training as well as social protection.

On the sidelines of the visit, the delegation of parliamentarians met with the United House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce where they focused on the recent developments in the relation between the two countries referring to the mutual visits between the two sides including President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi’s visit to the U.S. after U.S. President Donald Trump took power, besides several visits held by U.S.
delegations.

This reflects the improvement in U.S.-Egypt relations, said Abdel Aal.

Royce entered into four important issues during the meeting including the Coptic situation in Egypt and NGOs law; in addition to Egypt’s war against terrorism and Iran’s role in supporting terrorism in the region.

This visit is considered the first visit of the Egyptian parliamentary speaker since 2008.

Several meetings have taken place during the visit between the Egyptian Member of Parliament and the American Chamber of Commerce, and were attended by Pthe Middle East Strategic Institute, some of the Congress’s members, and House of Representatives speaker Paul Ryan.

During these meetings, several topics were discussed including the latest economic reform measures taken by the Egyptian government, the new investment law, and the major challenges Egypt is facing on all levels.