Kerry pledges support for Egypt in Cairo talks

US Secretary of State John Kerry launched a strategic dialogue with his Egyptian counterpart in Cairo on August 2, pledging Washington's support as the two countries patched up a diplomatic rift.

Kerry was to meet Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi later before travelling on to Qatar, where he will try to sell a nuclear deal with Iran to sceptical Gulf Arab allies.
 
Egypt is a key US ally in the region, but ties between the two countries frayed after the army, then led by Sisi, ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
 
More than 1,000 of Morsi's supporters were killed in a sweeping crackdown on protests, and militants have since killed hundreds of soldiers and policemen.
 
Most of the attacks have been conducted by the Egyptian affiliate of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group, which a US-led coalition is battling in Iraq and Syria.
 
At the televised start of the meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Kerry said his country wanted to support Cairo economically and politically.
 
"The American people are committed to the security and economic wellbeing of the Egyptian people," he said.
 
"The friendship between our countries is not based on some kind of perfect agreement, it's based on intense awareness of our shared interests in areas of regional security and counterterrorism," he added.
 
Kerry's visit comes days after Washington released its first delivery of F-16 jets to Egypt since it unblocked military aid in March frozen since the army's ouster of Morsi.
         
The United States has again grown supportive of Egypt, long a key Middle East ally, as Sisi battles the ISIL group insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula.
 
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