The US delegation from Business Executives for National Security (BENS) met with the Egyptian presidency and Egypt’s general intelligence directorate, Al-Mukhabarat, on Sunday during their visit to Cairo.
According to a presidential statement, President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, Al-Mukhabarat director Khaled Fawzy, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry discussed matters of regional security and terrorism with the delegation.
Also, among the topics reported by presidential spokesperson Alaa Youssef was the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the wishes of Al-Sisi to pursue efforts in the peace process.
The delegation had met with Shoukry earlier last week. BENS defines itself as a non-partisan and non-profit organisation that “supports the US government by applying best business practice solutions to its most difficult national security problems”.
In a statement to Daily News Egypt on Wednesday, BENS explained that it was not contracted by the Egyptian government.
“Our organisation is completely independent and any insight and perspectives discussed during meetings are strictly offered pro bono. Our international trips are simply organised to provide our hosts private sector perspectives to any number of issues of interest,” a BENS spokesperson stated.
The talks between BENS and Egypt further included US economic support of Egypt’s investment sector and national projects.
Egypt and the US claim to bolster strategic relations to face terrorism in the Middle East, following a progressive shift of the US position regarding the popularly-backed military ouster of former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.
