Staff report: CAIRO, Sept 23, 2018 - A scheduled meeting between President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and US President Donald Trump comes within the framework of the importance of strategic relations between the two countries and their keenness on maintaining such relations, Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri said in statements reported from New York by the Middle East News Agency (MENA). President Sisi is now in New York to take part in the work and high-level debates of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly. He flew in to New York on Friday as the heads of state and government of the 193 member-states of the international organisation were gathering for the big annual event. News reports from the international organisation noted that as many as 133 heads of state would join in the debates, signaling a significant increase from last year's 114. In addition to talks with President Trump, President Sisi is expected to meet some US Congressmen and a number of chiefs of some major US corporations and members of the Egyptian-American Business Council and the US Chamber of Commerce. Speaking to journalists and media persons accompanying the Egyptian delegation to the meetings of the UNGA, FM Shoukri noted that the resumption of the Bright Star military maneouvers represents evidence of the military co-operation between Egypt and the US. He also asserted the keenness of both countries on boosting these relations and their returns on fulfilling common interests at the bilateral, regional and international levels. During the past two years, joint efforts and exchanges through explanations and clarifications have been made in meetings between officials of the two countries with a view to adopting measures of relevance to the development of these relations, FM Shoukri said. The Egyptian top diplomat said that US President Trump agreed to deliver $195 million to Egypt – an amount which represents part of the financial assistance that the US held in 2016, in addition to approving a similar amount of money for the year 2017. This matter, he added, indicates that relations between the two countries are moving in a right direction and that issues that were raised were addressed by both sides. FM Shoukri expressed hope that the Sisi-Trump meeting will represent an opportunity for openness, the exchange of views and communication and that will launch a new phase of relations pertaining to the enhancement of Egypt's political and security capabilities and the continuation of co-operation for achieving common goals. Egypt, Minister Shoukri said, is in contact with the US with a view to working on resuming the negotiating process between the Palestinians and Israelis and is also in contact with the Palestinian and Israeli sides to reach the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. We are communicating with the US to present our vision in accordance with international legitimacy resolutions and the previous negotiations in addition to the several junctures of dialogue that took place between the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli side and which reached some understandings, Minister Shoukri said. Any step that can be taken should proceed from the bases of international legitimacy and the UN resolutions of relevance, he added. Meanwhile, Minister Shoukri held a meeting with Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmad Al Khalifa to discuss bilateral relations and the developments of the situation in the region, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said. FM Shoukri emphasised profound appreciation for efforts and stances taken by Bahrain to preserve Arab national security, lauding the depth and strength of Egyptian-Bahraini relations. The Bahrain minister praised distinguished relations binding the two countries and the momentum that bilateral ties have recently been witnessing in all fields in a way that reflects the special relations between the two countries at the popular and official levels. This year, 133 world leaders have signed up to attend the General Assembly session, a significant increase from last year's 114. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the expected large turnout "eloquent proof of the confidence of the international community in the UN," though other UN officials and diplomats said it's in response to growing concerns about an increasingly turbulent world, according to AP. The seven-year-old conflict in Syria and the three-year war in Yemen that has sparked the world's worst humanitarian crisis and is now seriously threatening large-scale famine will certainly be in the spotlight, along with meetings on other Mideast and African hot spots, according to the same news agency report. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said last week that one of his overriding concerns in an increasingly globalised world is the threat to having the UN's 193 member nations work together, which is the foundation of the United Nations. "Multilateralism is under attack from many different directions precisely when we need it most," the UN chief told reporters last Thursday. "In different areas and for different reasons, the trust of people in their political establishments, the trust of states among each other, the trust of many people in international organisations has been eroded and ... multilateralism has been in the fire." Guterres challenged diplomats at last week's opening of the 73rd session of the General Assembly by saying: "At a time of fragmentation and polarisation, the world needs this assembly to show the value of international co-operation." The week's activities kick off with a peace summit today morning honouring the 100th birthday this year of South African anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela. A statue of Mandela will be unveiled at UN headquarters and leaders are expected to adopt a declaration recognising the years 2019-2028 as the Nelson Mandela Decade of Peace. US President Donald Trump is hosting an event today on "The World Drug Problem" and US envoy to the UN Nicky Haley said 124 countries have signed a global call to action. Activists on drug policy note it was never negotiated, and one group, the Harm Reduction Coalition, called it "an instance of heavy-handed US ‘with us or against us' diplomacy." The US holds the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council in September and has scheduled two ministerial meetings, the first on Wednesday presided over by Trump. It was initially to focus on Iran but has now been broadened to the topic of "nonproliferation" of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. "I'm sure that is going to be the most watched Security Council meeting ever," Haley told reporters, according to the AP report. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will preside over the second meeting Thursday on North Korea, an issue the Security Council was united on in imposing increasingly tough sanctions. But that unity now appears to be at risk over enforcement of sanctions and the broader issues of how to achieve denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and when sanctions should be lifted against North Korea. Guterres welcomed the recent "positive meeting" in Pyongyang between the leaders of North and South Korea but warned that "there will not be success in intra-Korean negotiations if simultaneously there is not success in the American and North Korean" negotiations to rid the Korean Peninsula of nuclear weapons. UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the UN has received 342 requests for meetings during the high-level week. They includes sessions on conflicts in Syria, Libya, Yemen, Mali and Central African Republic as well as the plight of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, aid for Palestinians, education for girls, modern slavery, environmental threats, efforts to end poverty, and the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. Asked what are the big issues, Russia's UN Ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, told AP: "All of them are big issues – nonproliferation, co-operation, the world peace architecture – it's every year, but this year it's maybe more topical than ever."
