President Abdel Fattah El Sisi received on Thursday US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, currently on his first visit to Egypt since assuming post.

Egyptian Defense Minister Sedki Sobhi, deputy US National Security Adviser for Strategic Affairs Dina Powell and US Ambassador here Robert S. Beecroft attended the talks.

Presidential spokesman Alaa Youssef said Sisi welcomed the US defense official, hoping to continue their talks over military cooperation which they started at the Pentagon earlier this month during the Egyptian leader's visit to Washington.

Sisi lauded the strategic and strong relations between Egypt and the US, saying Egyptian-American relations managed to overcome many hardships that emerged over the past years.

Sisi expressed Egypt's keenness that relations with the US would witness a strong boom under the Trump administration.

He underlined the importance of drying up funding sources of terrorism and sending a decisive message to terrorism-sponsoring countries to stop financing terrorist organizations and supplying them with arms.

The US defense official said his country is looking forward to more cooperation with Egypt within the coming period to face the unprecedented challenges currently facing the Middle East and the entire world, the presidential spokesman said.

Mattis said the US is keen to take defense cooperation, which he describes as strong, to broader horizons within the coming stage.

He lauded Egypt's pivotal role in fighting terrorism and backing regional stability, saying the US fully supports Egyptian efforts in this score.

Talks covered spheres of military cooperation between the two countries as well as regional and international challenges, foremost counter-terrorism efforts. 

Mattis's visit is part of a regional tour that he began with a visit to Saudi Arabia.

Source: MENA