Trump calls Egypt's Sisi, says keen to overcome obstacles

 

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, U.S., before his departure to Yuma, Arizona, August 22, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo

 

CAIRO (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump called Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Thursday and said he was keen to overcome any obstacles in the way of cooperation, just days after the U.S. said it would withhold some financial aid to Egypt.

 

"President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi received a phone call tonight from U.S. President Donald Trump who affirmed the strength of the friendship between Egypt and the United States and expressed his keenness on continuing to develop the relationship and overcome any obstacles that might affect it," Sisi's office said in a statement late on Thursday.

 

On Tuesday, two U.S. sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that Washington had decided to deny Egypt $95.7 million in aid and to delay a further $195 million because it had failed to make progress on respecting human rights and democracy.

 

Egypt, an important regional partner for the United States because of its control of the Suez Canal and its border with Israel, receives $1.3 billion in aid annually and was critical of the U.S. decision.

 

Its foreign ministry said on Wednesday that the decision to withhold aid reflected "poor judgement" and that it could have "negative implications" on achieving common goals and interests between the two countries.

 

The decision reflects a U.S. desire to continue security cooperation as well as its frustration with Cairo's stance on civil liberties. In particular, a new law regulating non-governmental organizations is widely seen as part a growing crackdown on dissent, said the U.S. sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

 

Egyptian rights activists have said they face the worst crackdown in their history under Sisi, accusing him of erasing freedoms won in the 2011 Arab Spring uprising that ended Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule.

 

Egyptian lawmakers have said the NGO law was needed for national security. The Egyptian government has long accused human rights groups of taking foreign funds to sow chaos, and several are facing investigation regarding their funding.

 

Sisi and his Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner in Cairo on Wednesday but neither the presidency nor the ministry mentioned the aid issue in statements released after the meetings.

 

(Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing by Sandra Maler, Toni Reinhold)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-08-25

9 hours ago, webfact said:

Washington had decided to deny Egypt $95.7 million in aid and to delay a further $195 million because it had failed to make progress on respecting human rights and democracy

 

9 hours ago, webfact said:

Trump who affirmed the strength of the friendship between Egypt and the United States and expressed his keenness on continuing to develop the relationship and overcome any obstacles that might affect it,

Wouldn't Trump say this before denying and delaying foreign aid? Seems communications is reversed. Or State Department wasn't aware that Trump decided to call with an off the cuff policy change.

In the recent words of Moon Jung In, a special policy adviser to South Korean President Moon Jae In,  "we think that now the American government has moved from 'strategic patience' to 'strategic confusion."

Actually I read that this has nothing to do with Egypt's human rights record and everything to do with Egypt's continuing commercial relations with North Korea. Given the short shrift that the Trump administration has given to human rights concerns - particularly in the Mideast - this explanation makes more sense.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/22/us/politics/us-aid-egypt-human-rights-north-korea.html

10 minutes ago, ilostmypassword said:

Actually I read that this has nothing to do with Egypt's human rights record and everything to do with Egypt's continuing commercial relations with North Korea. Given the short shrift that the Trump administration has given to human rights concerns - particularly in the Mideast - this explanation makes more sense.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/22/us/politics/us-aid-egypt-human-rights-north-korea.html

Makes sense if you take into account Trump Administration previous policy on HR in Egypt.

 

 The White House signaled on Friday that it would no longer allow human rights issues to become a public point of conflict with Egypt, another striking shift away from years of American foreign policy by presidents of both parties.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/31/world/middleeast/in-major-shift-trump-taking-egypts-human-rights-issues-private.html?action=click&contentCollection=Politics&module=RelatedCoverage&region=EndOfArticle&pgtype=article

4 minutes ago, simple1 said:

The White House signaled on Friday that it would no longer allow human rights issues to become a public point of conflict with Egypt

Actually this policy was first announced in March.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/31/world/middleeast/in-major-shift-trump-taking-egypts-human-rights-issues-private.html?mcubz=0

Which makes both the State Department's report Tuesday of this week to deny and delay aid, followed by now Trump's reassertion otherwise is confusing.

3 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

Actually this policy was first announced in March.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/31/world/middleeast/in-major-shift-trump-taking-egypts-human-rights-issues-private.html?mcubz=0

Which makes both the State Department's report Tuesday of this week to deny and delay aid, followed by now Trump's reassertion otherwise is confusing.

Yep.

Did  Trump  call randomly to  admit he  is in need  of  serious therapy ?

He called him after to say; "Hey, you probably noticed me slapping you in the back of the head and here's why..."