FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

September 2, 2014

CONTACT:

Mohamed Moussa

presidential.spokesman2014@gmail.com

President El Sisi Meets US Congressional Delegation 

Today, at the Ittihadia Palace, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi met with a delegation from the US House of Representatives headed by Congressman Howard McKeon, Chairman of the Armed Services Committee (Republican). The delegation also included six Republican Congressmen, namely Jeff Miller, Mike Conaway, Vicky Hartzler, Chris Stewart, Bradley Byrne, Steve Palazzo, as well as Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell. U.S. Chargé d’Affaires to Egypt David Ranz also attended the meeting.

The delegation members, who are on a regional tour that includes Jordan, Israel, Egypt and Morocco, voiced their support for Egypt in the upcoming period, both politically and economically. They praised Egyptian efforts to achieve stability, which have culminated in the truce between Israelis and Palestinians. The delegation members referred to the US decision to approve the supply of Apache helicopters to Egypt, noting that combating terrorism and extremist ideologies is a common cause that requires the cooperation of both countries.

Spokesman for the Presidency Ambassador Ehab Badawy stated that the President reviewed the political developments that have taken place in Egypt over the course of the past three years. He asserted that the events that unfolded reflected the freewill of the Egyptian people, and were an expression of their aspirations, with which Egypt’s armed forces sided. The President noted that events unfolding in the region confirm with every passing day the accuracy of Egypt’s assessment. They bear out Egypt’s prior warnings to the West regarding the proliferation of extremist ideologies across borders in the region and beyond to western countries, some of whose citizens are fighting among the ranks of extremist groups.

President El Sisi noted that Egypt has regained its national unity, which witnessed attempts over the course of the past few years to fragment and undermine it. Such developments have driven a number of Christian Egyptians to emigrate and leave their homeland, but now these fears have been dispelled. The President highlighted that it is wrong to presume that combating terrorism can be confined to security aspects, despite its crucial and central role. The President added that such security measures should be implemented in parallel with the adoption of a number of socioeconomic measures. Instead of spending vast sums of money on the military aspects of the war on terrorism, the security confrontation should be coupled with efforts to assist moderate countries in the region to strengthen their economies and enhance  their capacities to provide decent shelter, food and living for their citizens. President El Sisi said that the situation in the region and the proliferation of terrorism places a responsibility on leading nations to adopt swift measures to assist moderate countries in the region. This will eventually help joint efforts succeed to restore the notion of the “State” in a number of countries suffering the scourge of terrorism.

In response to an inquiry regarding the estimated duration of the war on terrorism in the Sinai, the President pointed out that the Egyptian state places a high priority on preserving the lives of its citizens and is doing its utmost to avoid civilian casualties during confrontations with terrorists. He added the war on terrorism could have ended much sooner, but with a heavy toll on innocent civilian lives, which the Egyptian state adamantly refuses. This is in contrast to other combat strategies that don’t take civilian casualties into consideration.

The President affirmed Egypt’s commitment to maintaining the security of the Arab Gulf region, stressing that any regional arrangements should take into consideration the security concerns of both Egypt and the Gulf countries equally.

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