Trump to 'reboot' US-Egypt ties with Sisi meeting

Source: BBC News:

April 3, 2017 at 12:19

Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi is to visit the White House for the first time since he led the military's overthrow of his predecessor in 2013.

Egypt has long been a staunch US ally, but ties were strained by Mr Sisi's decision to launch a crackdown on his Islamist and secular opponents.

The Obama administration froze military aid for 18 months in response.

President Donald Trump now wants to "reboot" the two countries' bilateral relationship, US officials say.

He also wants to "build on the strong connection" established with Mr Sisi when they met in New York in September during the US election campaign.

File photo of riot police standing behind a barricade near the Ittihadiya presidential palace in Cairo (26 April 2014) — REUTERS
Egyptian activists say as many as 60,000 people have been arrested in a crackdown on dissent

As Egypt's defence minister and armed forces chief in July 2013, Mr Sisi led the overthrow of the country's first freely elected president, Mohammed Morsi, after mass protests against his rule.

The following month, he oversaw the violent dispersal of protests by supporters of Mr Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood, which left more than 1,000 people dead.

Human Rights Watch says tens of thousands people have been arrested in a crackdown on dissent, and that security forces have committed flagrant abuses, including torture, enforced disappearances and likely extrajudicial executions.

Mr Sisi, who was elected president in May 2014, has also presided over severe restrictions on civil and political rights that have effectively erased the gains of the 2011 uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak, according to the US-based group.

Egyptian women hold their national flag and a poster bearing portraits of President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi (R) and Defence Minister Sedki Sobhi in Tahrir Square, on the sixth anniversary of the 2011 uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak (25 January 2017) — AFP
Mr Sisi, a retired field marshal, was elected as president in 2014 with 97% of the vote

A senior Trump administration official briefed reporters that human rights concerns would be raised at Monday's meeting, but that it would be handled in a "private, more discreet way."

"We believe it's the most effective way to advance those issues to a favourable outcome," the official added.

HRW's Washington director, Sarah Margon, criticised that approach.

"Inviting Sisi for an official visit to Washington as tens of thousands of Egyptians rot in jail and when torture is again the order of the day is a strange way to build a stable strategic relationship," she said.

The two presidents are also expected to discuss a range of regional issues, including efforts to revive the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and the battle against so-called Islamic State.

Residents gather outside a police station in North Sinai's provincial capital of El-Arish after it was targeted by a car bomb on 12 April 2015 — AFP
IS militants have killed hundreds of security personnel in Egypt's Sinai peninsula

Since 2013, hundreds of Egyptian security personnel have been killed in attacks by an affiliate of the jihadist group that is based in the Sinai Peninsula.

To assist it in the fight against IS, Mr Sisi is believed to want an increase in the $1.3bn (£1bn) in military aid that Egypt receives annually.

The White House has promised to maintain a "strong and sufficient" level of support, but recently proposed drastic cuts to its international aid budget.

The administration official said Mr Trump was also "interested in hearing President Sisi's views on the Muslim Brotherhood", which the Egyptian leader wants the White House to designate a terrorist organisation.

Brotherhood officials insist that the group opposes violence. However, members of some of its regional offshoots have condoned or committed violent acts.