US Secretary of State John Kerry (R) walks to his motorcade after being greeted by US Ambassador to Egypt Stephen Beecroft (L) in Sharm el-Sheikh on March 13, 2015/AFP
The top US diplomat, who is attending an investment conference in the Red Sea resort, will also meet Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.
Egypt hopes the foreign investor conference will jump-start its battered economy while showcasing international support for Sisi who has positioned himself as a frontline ally in the regional fight against Islamist militants.
The former general led the army’s ouster of elected Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013 and then resigned from the military to stand in 2014 elections.
Washington, which initially shunned Sisi over his deadly repression of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood and stalled democratic reforms, has been forced to acknowledge it cannot isolate the biggest military force in the Arab world while Islamic State pushes to extend its influence in the region.
Washington froze a chunk of its $1.5 billion in mostly military annual aid to Cairo but has delivered Apache helicopters to the Egyptian military, which is fighting Al-Qaeda and Islamic militants sheltering in the Sinai peninsula.
Kerry’s talks with Abbas and King Abdullah II are likely to focus on the economic crisis facing the Palestinian Authority and could also include Sisi.
“We continue to be concerned about the PA,” a State Department official told reporters travelling with Kerry on his plane.
“It’s really part of the continuous, ongoing conversation we’re having with the critical stakeholders here,” the official said, asking not to be named.
Last month, the US voiced fears that the Palestinian Authority may be teetering on the brink of collapse because of a lack of funding, as Israel withholds taxes and donor aid stalls.
Kerry led a bid last year to try to reach an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, but his efforts collapsed amid bitter recriminations by both sides.
– Iran nuclear talks –
From the divers’ paradise of Sharm el-Sheikh, Kerry will fly to Lausanne in landlocked Switzerland on Sunday for fresh negotiations with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif.
Talks with global powers for a deal reining in Iran’s suspect uranium enrichment programme in return for sanctions relief are reaching a critical stage as a March 31 deadline for a political framework accord looms.
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