Pompeo says impressed by Egypt’s ability to face coronavirus

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Ahram Online on Thursday that he is “incredibly impressed” with what Egypt is doing to confront the coronavirus pandemic, and its ability to tackle security and economic challenges.

“That means,” Pompeo continued, “there will be fewer resources available for other things, but I have been incredibly impressed by Egypt and other countries in the Middle East and their ability to continue in the faith of these challenges, the health challenges and the challenges presented by the tragic loss of lives, but also the challenges to their nations’ economies, for their people to work and to generate wealth and to take care of their own people, their own families.”

“I have been very impressed by the ability to keep up their work on national security challenges all around the world. We still have conversations. We often begin them by talking about the virus, but we also spend a great deal of time continuing to work on problems that are all around the region and the Middle East,” he added.

Pompeo’s remarks came during a press videoconference held for a limited number of journalists from several countries in the Middle East — in which Al-Ahram participated as a representative of the Egyptian press. He talked about how the coronavirus crisis will affect the U.S. relations with its strategic allies, like Egypt, and the need to cooperate internationally to combat the challenges posted by the corona crisis.