US will back 2-state solution

Vice President Mike Pence told Egypt's leader on Saturday the United States would support a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians if the two sides agreed to it, seeking to reassure a key Arab ally over President Donald Trump's decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Pence was in Egypt on the first leg of a three-country tour that includes stops in Jordan and Israel.

It is the highest-level visit by a US official to the region since December, when Trump upended decades of US policy on Jerusalem in a move opposed by Arab leaders including Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

"We heard President al-Sisi out," Pence told reporters after their meeting, saying the Egyptian leader described his objection to Trump's decision as a "disagreement between friends."

Pence said he assured Sisi that the United States was committed to preserving the status quo of holy sites in Jerusalem and had come to no final resolution on boundaries for the two parties.

"My perception was that he was encouraged by that message," Pence said.

The Egyptian presidency said in a statement that Sisi noted that only negotiations based on a two-state solution could bring an end to the conflict, "and Egypt would spare no effort to support this."

From Cairo, Pence headed to Jordan, where he met with King Abdullah, a close US ally.

Abdullah yesterday voiced "concerns" over Washington's controversial recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

"Jerusalem is key to Muslims and Christians as it is to Jews," he added. "It is key to peace in the region. And key to enabling Muslims to effectively fight some of the root causes of radicalisation."

Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967 and later annexed east Jerusalem in a move never recognised by the international community.