September 23, 2008

AMB: Good afternoon. It was a great honor and pleasure for me to have an opportunity to come and see his Excellency the Prime Minister. I wanted to convey to him my personal best wishes for a joyous Eid and to deliver to him and to the people of Egypt an Eid mesage from the Secretary of State expressing our good wishes for this very holy season. We had an opportunity to review a variety of issues facing the world these days. I would say we spoke a lot about economic challenges and opportunities and had a very good discussion on these matters. I believe that our mutual desire is that the United States and Egypt will continue to work together towards our mutual goals and continue to cooperate in promoting economic reform in Egypt. As I said, this was just a general overview of issues facing us today. Thank you.

Q: There are some who object to the US ambassador’s movements and trips inside Egypt. How do you see these criticisms?

AMB: I can’t imagine any ambassador to Egypt who does not want to see all of Egypt and it’s been part of my goal here to travel to as much of the country as I can. I’ve been able to go to North Sinai, to Alexandria a few times, and to some of the governorates around Cairo. On these trips I always learn something new about the people and their activities as well as the programs that are going on around Egypt. In some areas I’ve visited we’ve had USAID projects and it was very useful for me to see these projects. As I said, it is simply a wonderful opportunity for me to meet other Egyptians. I went up to Alexandria last weekend and was able to have an iftar with some citizens there. That was a great honor for me. I hope to continue to travel around Egypt and I think that is a fairly normal activity for ambassadors to Egypt. Certainly ambassadors in the United States from other countries are more than welcome and urged to get out and see America.

Q: What are your comments about the kidnapping of the tourists yesterday?

AMB: We’re hoping that the situation is resolved quickly and peacefully.

Q: What is the US perspective on the change of government in Israel? Do you think that this will impact the USG and Israel’s efforts towards peace?

AMB: The United States’ view has not changed. We’re still going to devote energy and effort to support the parties in this negotiation and we, of course, are going to be working with the new government of Israel as it is formed.

Q: What is your comment on Obama’s statements saying that he would be more involved in the peace process?

AMB: Well, I think that the two candidates will speak for themselves. As to their intentions and plans, it’s not really for me to try to speculate on what they will do. I can, I think, simply look back in history to the fact that U.S. administrations, whether they are Republican or Democratic, have historically paid a lot of attention to this issue and have worked very hard over many, many years to try to find a negotiated, peaceful solution to this conflict.

Q: There are some opinions that American-Egyptian relations are cooling. What is your perspective?

AMB: What I believe is that the U.S. and Egypt share some very strong common interests and goals in this world and in this region. The U.S and Egypt have enjoyed a very strong relationship for over the last 30 years and I predict that this relationship is going to continue. There are always differences between countries on some issues, but good friends and allies will work through whatever differences arise.

Q: What are your comments about the religious freedom report? What will be the consequences of the report’s indication that there is continued religious persecution and that relations are tense between Muslims and Copts?

AMB: Well, I would urge you to read the reports in their entirety and certainly draw your own judgments, but we have been doing these reports for a number of years; we do them globally and we do our best to be factual in them. I think this report does not detract from the strong strategic relationship that we have with Egypt.

Q: We would like to know why the trade between Egypt and the US has decreased and also the QIZ is not doing well, as according to some reports.

AMB: The last numbers I saw on the QIZ, the Qualified Industrial Zones, show that they were doing very, very well. This was for the first half of the year; those were the latest numbers that I have seen. I think that bilateral trade is still very, very healthy.

Thank you all very much.