Pence: US stands with Egypt

CAIRO » Vice President Mike Pence and Egyptian leader Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi pledged a united front against Mideast terrorism on Saturday as Pence, the highest-level American official to visit the U.S. ally in nearly a decade, began a trip through the region amid a government shutdown in Washington.

Pence told reporters that he raised the issue of two Americans who have been imprisoned for several years in Egypt and that elSissi said “he would give personal attention” to their cases. “We’d like to see our people come home. I made that clear to him,” Pence said before flying to Jordan.

Pence and el-Sissi held 2½ hours of talks at the presidential palace in Cairo, with acknowledgements of friendship and partnership between the two countries. Through a translator, Pence listened as elSissi cited the need to address “urgent issues,” including “ways to eliminate this disease and cancer that has terrified the whole world.”

Pence pointed to President Donald Trump’s efforts to forge stronger ties with el-Sissi in his first year in office, “after a time when our countries seemed to be drifting apart.”

The vice president said that “we stand shoulder to shoulder with you and Egypt in fighting against terrorism” and that “our hearts grieve” for the loss of life in recent terrorist attacks against Egyptians.

The vice president noted the deadly attack against Christians in late December, when a militant opened fire outside a suburban Cairo church, killing at least nine people. He also cited the killing of 311 worshippers inside a mosque in northern Sinai last November.

“We resolve to continue to stand with Egypt in the battle against terrorism,” Pence said.