President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi met Tuesday with US Congress delegation at presidential palace headquarters in Cairo, Al Bawaba News reported. Spokesman for presidency, Alaa Youssef revealed that the president welcomed the US Congress delegation, praising the multiplicity of US Congress representatives' visits to Egypt during the recent period, which reflects the strength and durability of the relations between the two countries. Youssef pointed out that the meeting tackled the domestic developments and ongoing efforts to continue the process of development, as well as ensuring the security and stability of the country. He noted that the president stressed on the government's commitment to continue to work on consolidating the foundations of a modern civil state based on the rule of law and upholding the values of democracy. However, Al Sisi explained the need not to deal with human rights and freedoms situation in Egypt from a Western perspective, given the different challenges which face the country, both on internal and regional levels. He confirmed that democracy is an extended and continuous process, but Egypt is determined to move forward towards achieving the values of democracy. Furthermore, the meeting dealt with the latest developments in a number of crisis-hit countries of the region, where the president stressed on the importance of reaching a political solution to such crises, in a way which preserves states' national institutions and prevent them from collapsing. The president warned against the consequences of the fall of states in the region, which would help terrorist groups to spread and expand in the Middle East as a whole. The two sides also stressed on the importance of continuing the joint coordination to fight terrorism, where Al Sisi pointed out to the need to fight terrorism through renewing religious discourse, as all terrorist and extremist organizations seek to impose their vision and force their beliefs on uneducated people. Also, Al Sisi urged on the need to establish an independent Palestinian state, which would support the stability of the region and eliminates one of the main arguments used by terrorist organizations to promote their ideology. Meanwhile, the US Congress delegation praised the achievements of Egypt in terms of maintaining security, stability and national unity, especially in light of the region's crises. The delegation expressed its understanding for Egypt's security and economic challenges, adding that US looks forward to continuing the process of building democracy and economic development in Egypt. Additionally, the delegation praised the meeting of which it had with a number of members of the Egyptian Parliament, stressing that the US seeks to further enhance relations and cooperation with the parliament.
