Kerry in Egypt for security talks

Secretary’s agenda said to include human-rights concerns

An Egyptian traffic officer watches as a motorcade with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry passes Saturday in Cairo.
An Egyptian traffic officer watches as a motorcade with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry passes Saturday in Cairo.

CAIRO -- Secretary of State John Kerry is in Cairo for security talks with Egyptian officials before heading to Qatar to try to ease Arab concerns about the Iran nuclear deal.

Kerry arrived in the Egyptian capital Saturday, and today he will resume a U.S.-Egypt strategic dialogue that was suspended in 2009 because of political unrest.

Despite continuing human-rights concerns, President Barack Obama's administration is increasing military assistance to Egypt as it confronts growing threats from extremists, particularly on the Sinai Peninsula. On Friday, the U.S. delivered eight F-16 warplanes to Egypt, part of a military support package.

Sinai-based militants have been launching increasingly sophisticated attacks in recent months that have killed dozens of Egyptian soldiers and police. The latest wave of violence began after the military overthrew Islamist President Mohammed Morsi two years ago.

U.S. military assistance to Egypt had been on hold until earlier this year because human-rights and democracy concerns after the coup but was resumed by the administration for national security reasons.

Some lawmakers and numerous advocacy groups are urging Kerry to raise human-rights issues with Egyptian authorities, including the arrests of dissidents and journalists, mass trials, and sentencings of Morsi supporters. U.S. officials said those concerns would be raised at all of Kerry's meetings in Cairo and noted that the State Department's top diplomat for human rights and democracy would be accompanying him.

Ahead of his trip, Kerry met Thursday in Washington with Egyptian-American Mohammed Soltan, who had been sentenced to life in prison in Egypt for financing an anti-government sit-in and spreading "false news." One of thousands imprisoned after the 2013 military overthrow of Morsi, Soltan had been on a hunger strike for more than a year before being freed in May after repeated U.S. requests. He is the son of a prominent member of the now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.

The State Department said Kerry and Soltan discussed his experience in prison and "the importance of distinguishing between peaceful dissent and violent extremism in the fight against terrorism."

Broadening U.S.-Egyptian trade and economic ties will also be on the table during Kerry's visit, which comes just days before Egypt inaugurates a second, parallel waterway to allow two-way traffic on the Suez Canal. Egyptian officials are hoping the opening will boost a flagging economy.

From Cairo, Kerry will travel on Sunday to Doha, Qatar, for talks with Gulf Arab foreign ministers whose countries are wary of the nuclear deal with Iran.

Officials say the Doha discussions are primarily designed to follow up on a May meeting Obama hosted for Arab leaders at Camp David in Maryland, at which the U.S. promised enhanced security cooperation and expedited defense sales to guard against a potential Iranian threat. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss Kerry's trip publicly, said the talks in Qatar would take stock of progress made on those goals, particularly since the Iran deal was signed.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif visited Kuwait, Qatar and Iraq in a similar tour last week to talk to his counterparts about the Iran deal.

Saudi Arabia is the largest and most influential member of the council and has been publicly supportive of the Iran deal, albeit with reservations. Last week, the State Department authorized the sale to Saudi Arabia of $5.4 billion in Patriot missiles and related equipment along with $500 million in ammunition.

In addition to Iran, Kerry and the Arab ministers are expected to look closely at the situation in Syria and Iraq, which continue to be ravaged by conflict and the spread of the Islamic State extremist group, the officials said. Kerry will also meet separately in Doha with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to discuss Syria, Iran and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

Kerry will visit Malaysia on Wednesday for regional security talks, at which he will push the nation to redouble its efforts against human trafficking, a senior State Department official said Friday.

Kerry's visit comes a week after the department faced protest for lifting Malaysia off its trafficking blacklist. U.S. lawmakers and human-rights activists say the decision was intended to smooth the way for a trade agreement among 12 Pacific rim nations, including Malaysia.

The official said Malaysia needs to do much more, expanding prosecutions and meeting standards laid out in U.S. anti-trafficking legislation. The official spoke on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the department.

Information for this article was contributed by Matthew Pennington of The Associated Press.

A Section on 08/02/2015

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