Intel: How pressure is mounting on Egypt to release detained Americans
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has taken up the case of a US citizen held in Cairo with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pushed Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on a US citizen that Cairo has detained for six years. State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus noted that Pompeo pressed Shoukry Monday on “concerns over press freedom, human rights and Americans detained in Egypt, including Moustafa Kassem.”
Shoukry is in Washington this week for Treasury Department-led talks that seek to bridge Egypt’s disputes with Sudan and Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
Why it matters: The Donald Trump administration has been hesitant to push close US allies such as Egypt on human rights issues. At the same time, Trump has eagerly sought to secure the release of detained Americans abroad. Just last week Trump eagerly touted a prisoner swap with Iran that secured the release of US citizen Xiyue Wang, a Princeton scholar.
Pompeo’s focus on Kassem comes as Congress is tightening the pressure on Egypt to release US prisoners. The Senate foreign aid panel added language to the report accompanying its annual spending bill in September that would ban Egyptian, Saudi and Turkish officials from entering the United States if they have been “involved in the wrongful detention” of US citizens or locally employed staff at US diplomatic missions.
