Foreign Ministry Egyptian-US relations on 'ascending, positive' curve

Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said that Egyptian-US relations are moving on an "ascending and positive" curve.

Addressing diplomatic editors on Friday morning, Abu Zeid reiterated there were actual indicators including measures on military assistance, holding the Egyptian-US strategic dialogue and visits of US Congress delegations to Egypt.

The Egyptian-US relations are "strategic" and the US is a partner to Egypt with regard to economic and social development programs, Abu Zeid said.

A high level of coordination is maintained between both countries as regards regional and international issues, he added, noting that Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry had received a phone call from US State Secretary John Kerry as part of consultations on the Palestinian issue and the situation in the Middle East.

The statements came in reply to a question on Egyptian-US relations in light of the recent repeated visits by US delegations to Egypt.

As regards the presence of US initiatives to push forward the peace process and Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, Abu Zeid referred to Kerry's recent tour of the occupied Palestinian territories, including Al Quds and Ramallah.

Kerry's visit reflected how the US administration was serious in dealing with the tense situation in the Palestinian territories and its keenness on halting repeated aggression and easing the hard economic conditions for Palestinians, he said, describing all of these issues as "complicated and hard".

As for the Egyptian stance, Abu Zeid said Cairo was keen on driving home a message to the US side affirming that the Palestinian issue would not bear the strain of any future move without a specified target and time frame.

This stance will be clearly adopted by Egypt in the coming stage, especially following winning the UN Security Council non-permanent seat, he underlined.

As for the Syrian opposition meeting, expected to be held soon in Saudi Arabia, Abu Zeid said that relevant Vienna conferences would represent the framework for talks and there had been an agreement among participant countries on the importance of launching the political process among all Syrian parties by the begging of 2016.

Efforts were underway to help achieve a semi-unanimous stance among all Syrian opposition parties and then the countries concerned would meet by mid-December to evaluate the results of talks and agree on the coming steps, he said.

As for reported attacks against Muslims in a number of European countries, the foreign ministry spokesman described them as a "dangerous phenomenon", affirming that Europe should not drift again in the swamp of Islamophobia and confrontations with Arab and Islamic communities.

Sources: MENA