美防長訪埃及推進兩國關係回暖

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis visited Egypt Thursday, continuing Washington's warming of relations with Cairo during the Trump administration's first 100 days.

Mattis met with Egyptian Defense Minister Sedki Sobhy and President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, whose White House visit earlier this month was the first by an Egyptian leader since former U.S. President Barack Obama hosted Hosni Mubarak in 2009.

Political upheaval in 2011 ousted Mubarak and started years of turmoil that brought the authoritarian former general Sissi to power.

While in Egypt, Mattis was expected to push the country, which is struggling with political, financial and security issues, to remain tough on counter-terrorism amid a threat in the Sinai Peninsula and even in some urban areas, as shown in the deadly Palm Sunday attacks on Coptic churches in Alexandria and Tanta conducted by Islamic State militants.美國國防部長詹姆斯·馬蒂斯星期四抵達埃及訪問，延續川普政府執政首個百日期間華盛頓與開羅之間關係逐漸回暖的勢頭。

馬蒂斯會見了埃及國防部長蘇卜希以及埃及總統塞西。塞西總統本月早些時候訪問了白宮，他是美國前總統奧巴馬2009年接待穆巴拉克總統後，首位來訪的埃及領導人。

2011年發生的政治鉅變導致穆巴拉克被廢黜，開始的連年動盪局面使得奉行集權的前將領塞西上臺掌權。

預計馬蒂斯訪問埃及期間將推動正苦於應對政治、經濟和安全問題的埃及，在本國西奈半島甚至一些城市地區頻受恐怖威脅的情況下，保持反恐的嚴厲態勢。最近聖枝主日位於亞歷山大和坦塔的哥普特基督徒教堂受到的致命襲擊事件，就是伊斯蘭國激進分子所爲。