New US state secretary to visit Egypt on 2 March

John Kerry, the newly-appointed US secretary of state, is scheduled to visit Cairo on 2 March as part of a wider tour of Europe and the Middle East, official Egyptian news agency MENA reported on Sunday. According to diplomatic sources, Kerry will meet with members of President Mohamed Morsi's administration, with whom he will discuss Egypt-US relations, the ongoing Syria crisis, the stalled 'peace process' between the Palestinian Authority and the Tel Aviv regime, and the Iranian nuclear file. The same sources added that Kerry was also scheduled to meet with Egyptian politicians, civil society representatives and businessmen to discuss ongoing political and economic reforms in Egypt. The US state secretary is also slated to meet Arab League Secretary-General Nabil El-Arabi. Besides Egypt, Kerry's tour will include stops in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar. From Ahram Online