by WorldTribune Staff, April 6, 2017
U.S. President Donald Trump has a “true understanding” of Mideast terrorism and what it takes to defeat it, Egyptian President Abdul Fatah Sisi said on April 5.
“There is a true understanding of realities in the region,” Sisi told Fox News in an interview, following his meeting with Trump in Washington earlier this week.
“And there is seriousness and responsible actions in facing extremism and terrorism in the region,” Sisi said. “And that’s a wonderful thing indeed. There is nothing better than to counter evil.”
Trump is working to repair a relationship with Cairo that was significantly strained under former President Barack Obama.
Shortly after Sisi and the Egyptian army ousted then-Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in 2013, Obama suspended U.S. military aid to Egypt. He released the aid two years later.
“American law forbids sending aid to countries where a democratic government was deposed by a military coup, though Washington has never qualified Morsi’s ouster as a ‘coup’ and had been cautious about doing so, choosing only to condemn the violence in the country,” Arutz Sheva reported on April 5.
Trump’s began building a relationship with Sisi during the presidential campaign in September when the two met in New York.
After Trump’s election victory over Hillary Clinton, Sisi praised the new president and said he expected greater engagement in the Middle East from his administration.
In the Fox News interview, the Egyptian president said the world needs to “speak with one face as we confront terrorism” and questioned Russia’s ties to atrocities in Syria.
“Russia has interests in Syria and the region,” he said. “And I think they are defending their interests.”