Egyptian foreign minister to travel to US Sunday for 3-day visit

Ahmed Abbas
2 Min Read
Egyptian Minister of Foreign affairs Sameh Shoukry went to Rome Saturday to participate in the international conference that will discuss the Libyan crisis. The conference will be held on a ministerial level. Italy and the US called for it to force Libyan parties to establish a national unity government to overcome Libya’s current crisis.

Egypt’s foreign minister, Sameh Shoukry, will arrive in Washington DC Sunday for a three-day visit with the aim of strengthening Egyptian-US bilateral relations, reported a statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Shoukry will meet US secretary of state John Kerry, senators from the US congress, and US national security advisor Susan Rice to discuss the latest developments in regional and international issues.

“This visit comes after the election of parliament which marked the final step in Egypt’s political roadmap … giving a new impetus and boost to Egyptian-US relations”, said foreign minister spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid.

Shoukry will also hold interviews with NPR radio, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal. He also plans to host seminars at several research centers.

Last Tuesday, Shoukry and Kerry met during their time in Rome where representatives from 23 nations gathered to review progress on the fight against the “Islamic State” (IS).

They agreed to continue to support the political process in Libya; the establishment of a national unity government will be the first step to combating IS’s hold over the oil-rich country.

According to a report from Reuters, US officials view the continued political instability as the primary obstacle to directly addressing the threat of IS in Libya.

The Pentagon expressed concern in the past week about the spread of IS forces in Libya after repeated attacks against the Mediterranean country’s oil infrastructure.

Anonymous officials told Reuters that the White House and security advisors discussed possible military intervention in Libya. However, the meeting did not yield any definitive action plans.

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Ahmed Abbas is a journalist at DNE’s politics section. He previously worked as Egypt based reporter for Correspondents.org, and interned as a broadcast journalist at Deutsche Welle TV in Berlin. Abbas is a fellow of Salzburg Academy of Media and Global Change. He holds a Master’s Degree of Journalism and New Media from Jordan Media Institute. He was awarded by the ICFJ for best public service reporting in 2013, and by the German foreign office for best feature in 2014.
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