US Vice President Mike Pence will visit Cairo on 20 January, when he would meet with President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, according to a statement released by the White House on Tuesday. This comes as part of his four-day tour to the Middle East that will begin on 20 and will last to 23 January. He is also scheduled to travel to Jordan and Israel to discuss combating terrorism and assisting "persecuted religious minorities," the statement noted. In his visit to Jordan, he will meet King Abdullah II, to then arrive in Israel for two-days bilateral talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to give a speech at the Knesset, and to visit World Holocaust Centre Yad Vashem and the Western Wall. Pence's planned trip to Egypt and Israel was previously postponed after US President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and his administration's plans to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to the disputed city, a decision Pence had been in favour of. However, the postponement was believed to be because Pence might have been needed to cast the deciding vote on the US tax overhaul bill in the closely divided senate. Pence was expected to visit Egypt to meet President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to discuss terrorism, the current situation in the region, economic relations, investments, and military aid.
