After talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Blinken told reporters that Egypt had taken "important strides" protecting religious freedoms, empowering women and releasing some prisoners.
"But the concerns that we have remain and in the spirit of candour and the spirit of the partnership we have, we expressed those very clearly," Blinken said, adding that he had raised the cases of individual prisoners.escalation of violenceBlinken said he wanted to strengthen Washington's strategic partnership with Egypt, a major recipient of U.S. military aid that has helped mediate in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the past.
Under Sisi, who as army chief led the 2013 ouster of Egypt's first democratically elected president, there has been a long crackdown on political dissent that has swept up liberal critics as well as Islamists. Rights groups say tens of thousands have been detained, with many held in pre-trial detention for long periods.US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives to the airport in Cairo on January 30, 2023, at the end of the Egyptian leg of his Middle East tour. KHALED DESOUKI/Pool via REUTERS
What about Israel?
US only wants resources
That's easy. What about Saudi Arabia?
What a coincidence.
Will Blinken be pressing Israel about their lack of human rights for Palestinians?
Don't interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, Americans are not the world's police