CIA Chief Burns meets with Egypt's Sisi
The pair discussed the situation in Afghanistan, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and the crisis in Libya, according to the Egyptian presidency.
CIA Director William Burns met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo Sunday for talks focused on security cooperation and regional crises, the Egyptian presidency said.
The meeting covered “a number of regional issues of common interest, especially tensions in the Middle East as well as Afghanistan, the Renaissance Dam (in Ethiopia) and the crisis in Libya,” read a statement from Sisi’s office.
The Biden administration has praised Cairo for its role in mediating the latest round of Palestinian-Israeli violence. In May, Egypt brokered a cease-fire between Israel and Gaza-based militant group Hamas, ending 11 days of fighting that killed over 250 Palestinians and 13 residents of Israel.
Burns and Sisi reportedly discussed the North African country’s long-running dispute with Ethiopia over Addis Ababa’s filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), a megadam on the Nile’s main tributary that both Egypt and Sudan say could dangerously restrict their freshwater supplies.
