Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi met Sunday with the US director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) John Brennan in Cairo, discussing topics of interest including combating terrorism.
El-Sisi and Brennan praised the strategic and military relationships between Egypt and the US, expressing their hopes that this relationship be expanded into other aspects as well, state news agency MENA reported.
Brennan affirmed Egypt’s regional and international role, expressing the US’s interest in knowing Egypt’s views regarding current regional affairs and ways to settle Middle East crises.
During the meeting, El-Sisi underlined that Egypt’s army is exerting all its efforts to combat terrorism in North Sinai.
The president said that terrorism is limited in reach in the governorate, not exceeding one percent of North Sinai’s total area.
Brennan also congratulated El-Sisi on fulfilling the last step of the 2013 political roadmap, implemented following Mohamed Morsi’s ouster, with the inauguration of a new parliament last week.
The meeting was also attended by the head of Egyptian General Intelligence Khaled Fawzy and US Ambassador to Cairo Stephen Beecroft.
This is the second meeting between El-Sisi and Brennan in less than a year. The duo met in Cairo last April, where they also discussed regional and international political affairs.
In March 2015, US President Barack Obama released $1.3 billion in military aid to Egypt that was suspended after the ouster of Morsi in July 2013, in an effort to boost Cairo's ability to combat the extremist threat in the region.
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