US President Donald Trump says he hopes to visit Egypt soon following his travel to Saudi Arabia as part of a six-stop trip.
Trump made the remarks Sunday in a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Riyadh, hours before he is scheduled to address an Arab Islamic American summit.
"I will get to Egypt. We will absolutely be putting that on the list very soon," Trump said, praising Washington-Cairo relations.
He said his talks with Sisi are “very very important,” adding, “We've really been through a lot together positively.”
Sisi, the former chief of the Egyptian army, came to power in July 2013 by ousting Egypt’s first-ever democratically-elected president, Mohamed Morsi, in a coup.
Morsi was sentenced to death in June 2015 on charges of participating in prison breaks and violence against policemen during the 2011 uprising that toppled former dictator Hosni Mubarak.
The Trump administration had once mulled designating the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s banned political movement with which Morsi was affiliated, a terrorist organization.
In his first meeting with Sisi on April 4, Trump unconventionally praised the Egyptian president, who had been accused of violating human rights in the North African country.
The Arab state had its 1-billion-dollar-plus military aid from Washington suspended for some time under the previous US administration over the strong-arm tactics.
Rights groups say the putsch and the draconian security measures that ensued have killed hundreds of people. More than 20,000 people have also reportedly been arrested. UK-based rights body Amnesty International has also raised the alarm over rampant forced disappearances in the country under Sisi.
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