Egypt's Sisi tells Trump world 'counting on' him for Middle East peace / Photo: ALEX WONG - GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
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Egypt's Sisi tells Trump world 'counting on' him for Middle East peace
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi told his US counterpart Donald Trump on Saturday that the world was relying on him "to reach a permanent and historic peace agreement" to end the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
Saturday's phone call was the first between the two leaders since Trump repeatedly floated a plan to relocate Palestinians from Gaza into Jordan and Egypt, which Sisi and other Arab leaders have strongly rejected.
A statement from Sisi's office said he and Trump had extended mutual invitations for state visits during the call and stressed the importance of continued "coordination and cooperation".
Sisi also noted that "the international community is counting on President Trump's ability to reach a permanent and historic peace agreement that ends the conflict that has existed in the region for decades", the statement said.
The White House said that Sisi had "expressed his confidence that President Trump's leadership could usher in a golden age of Middle East peace."
"The two leaders also discussed Egypt's important role in the release of hostages from Gaza," said the US read-out of the call that did not mention any proposal to relocate Palestinians.
Trump last month suggested a plan to "clean out" the Gaza Strip, saying last Saturday he would "like Egypt to take people", as well as Jordan.
At the time, he said he would speak to Sisi the following day, but Egypt later denied the call had taken place.
Both Egypt and Jordan have rejected the plan.
- 'An injustice' -
On Wednesday, Sisi called the proposal "an injustice that we cannot take part in", and said he was "determined to work with President Trump, who seeks to achieve the desired peace based on the two-state solution".
Trump, however, insisted again on Thursday that Egypt and Jordan "will do it", adding: "We do a lot for them."
Egypt is a key US ally in the region, and was the only country besides Israel to receive an exemption from Trump's foreign aid freeze last month.
Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, Egypt has played a delicate balancing act -- maintaining its mediator role in the conflict while positioning itself as a champion of the Palestinian cause.
"If I were to ask this of the Egyptian people, all of them would take to the streets to say 'no'," Sisi said on Wednesday of the proposed plan.
At a meeting in Cairo on Saturday, top diplomats from Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar also rejected any forcible displacement of Palestinians, according to a joint statement.
On Friday, state-linked media in Egypt broadcast footage of people protesting near Egypt's border with Gaza against Palestinian displacement.
The read-out from Sisi's office on Saturday did not mention the proposal, but said the call "witnessed a positive dialogue" between the presidents on the implementation of the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel, brokered by Egypt, the US and Qatar.
J.Fletcher--NG
