US wants to expand Counter-terrorism partnership with Egypt: Administration Official
Washington, Apr 9 (Sputnik/UNI) The United States wants to expand its counterterrorism partnership with Egypt given that terrorism remains a significant threat to that country's stability, a senior administration official said in press briefing.
“Terrorism is a very significant threat to Egypt's stability, from Libya, Sinai and the South, so they are kind of uniquely positioned to be responding to a whole range of threats in that theater. For us, it's a very, very important partnership that we want to expand,” the official said on Monday.
The official noted that Egypt plays an important diplomatic role in negotiating with Hamas, and is working to persuade the Palestinian movement to comply with the conditions that would move them out of being considered a terrorist organization.
In 2017, Fatah and Hamas signed an Egypt-brokered agreement to put Gaza back under the Palestinian National Authority's control, but the deal has not been implemented so far.
Russia is one of mediators in both, the Israeli-conflict and the intra-Palestinian talks. The Trump's administration, meanwhile, has also been working on its peace plan for the Israeli-Palestinian settlement for months.
However, Palestinians have rejected Washington’s involvement in the conflict settlement after Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moved the US embassy there in May 2018 despite UN recommendations to refrain from establishing diplomatic missions until the city’s legal status is settled.
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