Back to the complete issue
Thursday, 19 May 2016

Kerry in Cairo to discuss Palestine, Libya with El Sisi

US Secretary of State John Kerry held talks with President Abdel Fattah El Sisi yesterday on “a range of bilateral and regional issues, including recent developments on Libya and Syria,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner said after the meeting, Reuters reported. A US official said “Kerry wanted to explore in more detail a proposal on Tuesday by Sisi to mediate a reconciliation between rival Palestinian factions to pave the way toward a lasting peace accord with the Israelis.”

Apparently, however, Egyptian authorities made clear that reporters “would not be welcome” at the presidential palace, State Department officials told journalists set to make their way to Egypt with Kerry. The move appears to be over “fear we might ask President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi a question or two about the dissidents he has jailed,” according to the New York Times’ David E. Sanger. “Even China’s leaders routinely let the news media pool in, though they do their best to ignore them … Egypt used to do the same — in what now looks, by comparison, like the days of openness when Hosni Mubarak was still president.”

Enterprise is a daily publication of Enterprise Ventures LLC, an Egyptian limited liability company (commercial register 83594), and a subsidiary of Inktank Communications. Summaries are intended for guidance only and are provided on an as-is basis; kindly refer to the source article in its original language prior to undertaking any action. Neither Enterprise Ventures nor its staff assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, whether in the form of summaries or analysis. © 2022 Enterprise Ventures LLC.

Enterprise is available without charge thanks to the generous support of HSBC Egypt (tax ID: 204-901-715), the leading corporate and retail lender in Egypt; EFG Hermes (tax ID: 200-178-385), the leading financial services corporation in frontier emerging markets; SODIC (tax ID: 212-168-002), a leading Egyptian real estate developer; SomaBay (tax ID: 204-903-300), our Red Sea holiday partner; Infinity (tax ID: 474-939-359), the ultimate way to power cities, industries, and homes directly from nature right here in Egypt; CIRA (tax ID: 200-069-608), the leading providers of K-12 and higher level education in Egypt; Orascom Construction (tax ID: 229-988-806), the leading construction and engineering company building infrastructure in Egypt and abroad; Moharram & Partners (tax ID: 616-112-459), the leading public policy and government affairs partner; Palm Hills Developments (tax ID: 432-737-014), a leading developer of commercial and residential properties; Mashreq (tax ID: 204-898-862), the MENA region’s leading homegrown personal and digital bank; Industrial Development Group (IDG) (tax ID:266-965-253), the leading builder of industrial parks in Egypt; Hassan Allam Properties (tax ID:  553-096-567), one of Egypt’s most prominent and leading builders; and Saleh, Barsoum & Abdel Aziz (tax ID: 220-002-827), the leading audit, tax and accounting firm in Egypt.