European Union Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini is to visit Egypt and meet President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi next week to discuss bilateral relations and developments in the region. Mogherini is set to spend two days in Cairo and will give a speech at the Cairo University on 3 November, Egypt's state-run news agency MENA reported Wednesday. She will meet with al-Sisi and Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry to discuss a number of topics including the conflicts in Libya, Syria, Yemen and Palestine. Shoukry and Mogherini will also be in Vienna on Friday to take part in Syria peace talks with the attendance of Iran. Mogherini has been a supporter of Egypt's efforts to combat Sinai-based Islamist militants since assuming office in November last year but has also been a vocal critic of the mass death sentences handed out to Islamists in criminal cases, including ousted president Mohamed Morsi. She described the sentences and court procedures as "in breach of Egypt's obligations under international law" after Morsi's death sentence was upheld pending further appeal in June in a trial related to a jail break and murder of prison officers during the 18-day uprising that ousted autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak in 2011. Source: Ahram Online
