Warm welcome awaits Sisi as Trump rolls out red carpet for Egypt strongman
Source: The Guardian
Warm welcome awaits Sisi as Trump rolls out red carpet for Egypt strongman
Ruth Michaelson in Cairo
Sunday 2 April 2017 10.00 BST
The Egyptian president, Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi, is set to visit the White House on Monday, in a clear sign of the Trump administrations willingness to firmly embrace dictatorial regimes that the previous administration spurned.
Sisi is the first Egyptian leader to visit the White House since Egypts 2011 revolution, as well as the 2013 popularly backed military coup that brought him to power. Unlike Obama, who refrained from inviting Sisi to Washington, Trump has had a warm relationship since meeting Sisi on the sidelines at the UN general assembly in September 2016. He wants to use President Sisis visit to reboot the bilateral relationship and build on the strong connection the two presidents established when they first met, a senior White House official told reporters on Friday.
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For Trump, Sisis visit provides an opportunity to tout his relationship with the leader of the Arab worlds most populous nation after a controversial travel ban targeting six majority-Muslim countries. His administration is also currently facing questions about whether policy changes have caused mounting civilian casualties in conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
Trumps choice to welcome Sisi to the White House contrasts with that of his predecessor. The US capped the aid it provides to Egypt in October 2013, shortly after Sisi seized power, reducing it to $1.3bn in annual military assistance and preventing the sale of some larger items such as fighter jets. The Obama administration also repeated demands for Egypt to refrain from the mass trials, widespread jailing of opponents and crackdown on civil liberties that swept Egypt under Sisis rule. While the aid cap was lifted in 2015, relations remained frosty until Obamas exit.
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Trump would rather stand with a strongman against terrorism and Islamism than concern himself with Egypts domestic challenges or US values at stake, said Daniel Benaim, a senior fellow with the progressive Washington thinktank the Centre for American Progress and a former adviser to Joe Biden on Middle East issues. He praised Sisi for forcefully taking control of Egypt, essentially blessing the crackdown that President Obama had condemned, he added.
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While Egypts government has employed the Glover Park Group since 2013 to massage its image, in January Egypts General Intelligence Service hired Washington lobbyists Cassidy and Associates as well as the PR firm Weber Shandwick. Foreign Agent Registration Act filings show that the firms will be paid a combined total of $1.8m annually, despite Egypt having accepted a $12bn emergency loan from the International Monetary Fund last November.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/02/abdel-fatah-al-sisi-donald-trump-egypt
OldHippieChick
(2,434 posts)healthy handshake.
CanonRay
(14,132 posts)and this tinpot dictator like royalty. What does this tell us about the man and his intentions.
dalton99a
(81,673 posts)lark
(23,182 posts)He loves the idea of anyone getting to bully their people and personally profit from it, those are his role models.
JustABozoOnThisBus
(23,375 posts)And I know just the owner/developer/moocher to do it.
DK504
(3,847 posts)If Dump is SO concerned about money why not start with Egypt. Take that $1.3 billion back and put it somewhere that helps Americans. 'Cause he is about America First. He could work his way throw allllllll these countries that we give money to every year, like Israel, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Think how much $$$$ we'd be rolling in.....partly snark
Demsrule86
(68,768 posts)MBS
(9,688 posts)Note the contrast in tone with the parallel Merkel meeting.Needless to say, no mention of human rights, something that PBS Newshour (to their credit) emphasized at length.
Completely disgusting.