Cairo, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi met with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in German capital Berlin over Libya’s settlement, the Egyptian presidency said in a statement.
According to Egyptian Presidency spokesman Bassam Rady, Pompeo said Washington is looking forward to intensifying coordination with Cairo on the Libyan issue in the light of Egypt’s political weight in the region and awareness of the aspects of the Libyan crisis, Xinhua reported on Sunday.
The two officials’ meeting on Friday came right before their participation in the one-day Berlin international conference on the Libyan crisis.
During the meeting, Sisi said a settlement in Libya can only be achieved through “a comprehensive solution that addresses all dimensions of the issue via clear and specific political, security and economic paths,” said Rady.
The talks also addressed the recent US mediation in the negotiations between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan in Washington over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
Egypt expressed appreciation of the US role in the dam negotiations and hope to reach a comprehensive agreement on the GERD that preserves Egypt’s rights to the Nile water, according to the statement.
The US Department of State also issued a statement on Monday’s talks between Pompeo and Sisi, saying they “agreed on the urgent need for a lasting cease-fire and a return to a UN-affiliated political process (in Libya)”.
“Pompeo expressed outrage over the pointless and tragic death of detained US citizen Moustafa Kassem in Egypt,” US Department of State Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said.
Egypt has previously denied responsibility for the recent death of the Egyptian-American prisoner, saying he insisted to continue a hunger strike despite attempts to stop him from hurting himself.
