Egypt’s FM Shoukry, Pompeo discuss cooperation to ensure stability in region

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are hoping to achieve greater cooperation between the two countries to ensure stability in the region during talks held in Washington on Tuesday.

The two officials discussed ways to boost mutual cooperation and strategic partnership, as well as bolstering efforts to “confront regional and international threats and to achieve stability in the Middle East,” Egypt’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

The pair discussed “how to advance Egypt’s and the region’s security and stability,” the US Department of State said on its official website.

During the talks, the Egyptian minister underlined the importance of pushing for a just settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

He reiterated Egypt’s stance that regards the Golan Heights as occupied Syrian land, following US President Donald Trump’s suggestion that Israel be recognised as sovereign in this territory it captured in the 1967 War.

Pompeo “recognised the foreign minister’s dedication to strengthening the US-Egypt bilateral relationship” and congratulated Egypt on Tuesday’s 40th anniversary of the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty, according to the State Department.

Also on Tuesday, Shoukry met with a number of US congressmen including Republican Senator Marco Rubio, who heads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Subcommittee, Republican US Representative Steve Chabot and Representative Ted Deutch, a Democrat who heads the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East.

Source: Ahram Online