Egypt keen to strengthen ties with US: Sisi

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al- Sisi vowed on Tuesday to strengthen relations with the United States in Cairo.

Sisi's remarks came during a meeting here with a delegation from the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA) in the presence of Acting Chief of Egyptian Intelligence Abbas Kamel.

The Egyptian president stressed the importance of the decades-long relations between his country and the US, Presidential Spokesman Bassam Rady said in a statement.

The delegation members praised Egypt's efforts to resolve the Middle East crisis as well as the Sinai 2018 operation, an anti-terror operation Egypt launched in February.

They also lauded Egypt's efforts to achieve domestic economic development within the framework of the country's economic reform program, added the spokesman.

The meeting also tackled regional and international developments including efforts to achieve peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis in line with the agreed international terms of reference and the two-state solution.

Although Egypt is a main regional ally to the United States, ties between the two countries were cold under former US President Barack Obama after the Egyptian military ousted former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 in response to mass protests.

However, the bilateral relations later improved when incumbent US President Donald Trump took office and boosted cooperation with the Arab country.

Egypt, like most of the international community, rejects Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to relocate Washington's embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to the debated holy city.

Cairo receives an annual military aid of 1.3 billion US dollars from Washington since it signed the 1979 US-sponsored peace treaty with Israel, the US number one regional ally and the top recipient of US aid.