Blinken heads to Egypt in next stop on Mideast tour seeking ‘enduring end’ to Gaza war

By AFP 6 February 2024, 5:27 am 2 Edit

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken disembarks from the plane upon his arrival at King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital Riyadh on February 5, 2024. (Mark Schiefelbein/Pool/AFP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is due to fly to Egypt today as part of a Middle East crisis tour seeking a new truce and “an enduring end” to the Israel-Hamas war.

In Cairo, Blinken is scheduled to met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, the day after holding talks in Riyadh with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The trip, Blinken’s fifth to the region in the nearly four-month-long war, will later include stops in Israel and Qatar.