Trump reiterates US support for Egypt s anti-terror war

Cairo March 5 (IANS) Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi received a phone call from his US counterpart Donald Trump where the latter expressed his country s support for Egypt s ongoing anti-terror war the Egyptian presidency said on Sunday.

"The two leaders also discussed a number of regional issues and relevant developments particularly in the light of the deteriorating regional situation to reach political settlements for the current crises " Egyptian presidential spokesman Bassam Rady said in a statement Xinhua reported.

The call comes amid ongoing crises in different parts of the Middle East region including Syria Libya Yemen and Iraq in addition to the chronic Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

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 Trump assumed the White House and exchanged expressions of praise and cooperation with the Egyptian president.

Egypt like most world states rejects Trump s recent decisions to recognize the Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to relocate Washington s embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to the debated holy city.

Cairo receives annual military aid of $1.3 billion 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.

--IANS
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