Kerry in Egypt for talks on ISIL fight, Palestinians

US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived March 13 in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh where he is to meet President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to discuss the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
      
The top US diplomat, who is attending an investment conference in the Red Sea resort, will also meet Jordan's King Abdullah II and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.
      
Egypt hopes the foreign investor conference will jump-start its battered economy while showcasing international support for Sisi who has positioned himself as a frontline ally in the regional fight against Islamist militants.
      
The former general led the army's ouster of elected Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013 and then resigned from the military to stand in 2014 elections.        

Washington, which initially shunned Sisi over his deadly repression of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood and stalled democratic reforms, has been forced to acknowledge it cannot isolate the biggest military force in the Arab world while Islamic State pushes to extend its influence in the region.
      
Washington froze a chunk of its $1.5 billion in mostly military annual aid to Cairo but has delivered Apache helicopters to the Egyptian military, which is fighting Al-Qaeda and Islamic militants sheltering in the Sinai peninsula.
      
Kerry's talks with Abbas and King Abdullah II are likely to focus on the economic crisis facing the Palestinian Authority and could also include Sisi.
      
"We continue to be concerned about the PA," a State Department official told reporters travelling with Kerry on his plane.
      
"It's really part of the continuous, ongoing conversation we're having with the critical stakeholders...