PRESS RELEASE
Trump Meets Egyptian President Al-Sisi at White House; Al-Sisi Wants Muslim Brotherhood Declared Terrorists
April 3, 2017 (EIRNS)—Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi became the first Arab head of state to visit U.S. President Trump in the White House today. The Egyptian President came to ask President Trump to declare the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group, Dibie Ike Michael of Press Agency, and others, report.
Al-Sisi led the 2013 overthrow of Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi in 2013, and took over the Egyptian government. Morsi was backed by the Muslim Brotherhood, who had won the election when Obama demanded an early election after President Mubarak stepped down during mass demonstrations, while the Muslim Brotherhood was the only organized force in the country.
The objective of the visit, a Trump administration official told Press Agency, is to rebuild relations strained during the Obama years by Egypt’s crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood. Obama declined to invite al-Sisi to the White House during his Presidency.
Trump praised Al-Sisi, calling him, "[S]omebody that has been very close to me from the first time I met him." Al-Sisi told Trump,
"I had a deep appreciation and admiration of your unique personality, especially as you are standing very strong in the counter-terrorism field."
As Executive Intelligence Review has reported, Obama insisted that the Muslim Brotherhood was a "moderate" force within "political Islam" from the beginning of his first 2008 terms in office. (EIR Dec. 18, 2015). Although tens of millions of Egyptians took to the streets of Cairo and other cities to demand the ouster of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohammed Morsi government, in 2013, Obama continued to pursue ties with Muslim Brotherhood forces in Syria, Libya, and elsewhere in the North Africa region.
Egyptian President Al-Sisi and his accompanying political delegation, press reports say, will be focusing on communicating with congresmen to pass legislation to have the Muslim Brotherhood declared a terrorist organization.
