Secretary of State John Kerry restarted “strategic dialogue” with Egyptian officials Sunday after formal security talks with Egypt had been discontinued for six years due to the unrest of the Arab Spring.
This comes two days after the U.S. delivered eight F-16 warplanes to Egypt that the Obama administration has touted as boosting Egypt’s ability to counter terrorism. It is part of a military support package designed to make the region safer from threats like the Islamic State.
“We have, over the last year, provided F-16s, Apache helicopters, Fast Missile Craft, armored vehicles and other weapons systems,” Kerry told Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on Sunday. “We will continue to provide robust training to the Egyptian military, as the military seeks it and desires it, in an effort to build capacity, and also to meet the highest expectations of your military for its professionalism.”
“The American people are committed to the security and to the economic well-being of the Egyptian people, guided by the vibrancy of your own civil society, your politics, your free and fair democratic process,” said Kerry.
Kerry flew to Cairo to reassure Arab leaders on the Iran nuclear deal. After he meets with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, he will meet with counterparts in Qatar to assure members of the Gulf Cooperation Council that the Iran deal will make the Middle East more secure.
“There can be absolutely no question that the Vienna plan, if fully implemented, will make Egypt and all the countries of this region safer than they otherwise would be or were,” Kerry reiterated Sunday.
After speaking with Shoukry, the two held a joint news conference where Kerry acknowledged that there was “a little bit of tension” over human rights issues in Egypt and said that “Washington would continue to press Cairo on the arrests of dissidents and journalists and mass trials,” according to the Associated Press.
The conference occurred just after a court in Cairo had again postponed a verdict in the trial of three Al-Jazeera English journalists. Shoukry addressed the controversy created by the trial and said that no journalists had been detained for their media work, only for terrorism and other offenses, reports the AP. He rejected criticism that detainees had been denied a fair trial and said Egypt is committed to improving its human rights record.
“We are absolutely clear that terrorists who kill civilians and attack Egyptian security forces have to be brought to justice, and we stand with Egypt in that effort,” noted Kerry. “But it is equally important … to distinguish between those who use violence to achieve their ends and others who seek peacefully to participate in a political dialogue, even if what they say sometimes may make people uncomfortable.”
Egypt would have to improve its economy and use more than its military to distract young people from embracing radical ideologies, said Kerry. “Otherwise, no matter how many terrorists we bring to justice, those groups will replenish their ranks and we will not be safer. We will be involved in a round robin, circular, repetitive process,” he said.
