Egypt’s Shoukry to head to Washington Sunday ahead of Sisi visit- spokesman

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry will head to Washington DC on Sunday in preparation for a visit by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in March, the ministry spokesman said on Thursday.

Shoukry will meet with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to discuss bilateral ties and the Trump administration’s vision for the Arab region, spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said in remarks to a local TV programme.

The spokesman said the visit will also tackle the agenda of Sisi’s anticipated visit to Washington in March, the first by an Egyptian president in decades.

The last such visit was by Hosni Mubarak in 2004.

Trump and El-Sisi have already shown a certain rapport. Both leaders exchanged phone calls in recent months, with El-Sisi being the first foreign leader to congratulate Trump on his election victory.

Trump said there was good chemistry when the two leaders met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York in September.

This is the second visit by Shoukry to Washington since Trump was elected president in November. His first trip was in December when he held a series of meetings with members of Congress and senators.

Source: Ahram online