June 16, 2008

Q: This is your first official meeting following presenting your credentials to President Mubarak today?

Ambassador: It was a very exciting day for me. I had the great honor to present my credentials this morning to President Mubarak. I am the 42nd representative of the United States to a country where we have enjoyed such a wonderful relationship and partnership for well over 30 years and I am now looking forward to traveling more, meeting even more Egyptians, trying to see the areas where we can perhaps even do more together to advance our mutual goals for greater economic activity between our two countries. As you know we’ve had a long-term program of supporting Egyptian economic development, as well, we want to continue to be a partner with Egypt and as you know we have long-term security interest that we share with Egypt as well. As I said, it has been a great partnership for so long and I really hope that, as the newest representative of the United States, I can fulfill the legacy that I have received promoting this relationship even further.

Q: Lately, there have been some problems in the relationships and differences in views between the U.S. and Egypt in different aspects.

Ambassador: We have a very broad and strong relationship, and any two countries agree on many things and sometimes disagree occasionally and that is the normal course of diplomatic bilateral relations. I am sure we enjoy a very frank and candid relationship with the government of Egypt and we look forward to continuing this.

Q: But there is a lot of criticism against the United States regarding bilateral relations in the Egyptian media. Do you think that this could impact you in your work in Egypt?

Ambassador: What I hope is that we continue to see good coverage of the very strong and positive elements of the U.S.-Egyptian relationship of which there are many and that is really the message; we need to look together to what serves our mutual interests and I think that is where we are looking.

Q: What about American interference in Egypt’s internal affairs?

Ambassador: I am not sure that I would agree that we are interfering. As we have said many, many times, these issues are issues for Egyptians to resolve. The United States has a long-term interest in the promotion of certain values and democracy and human rights and so does Egypt, and these are Egyptian interests.

Thank you very much