By Ahmed Asmar
ANKARA (AA) - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Egypt on Tuesday to discuss efforts aimed at reaching a cease-fire in Gaza and a prisoner swap between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas.
According to the local website Qahera News, Blinken arrived in the town of El-Alamein, northern Egypt, where he will hold meetings with top Egyptian officials.
Blinken will meet separately with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, and intelligence chief Abbas Kamel.
Later in the day, he will travel to Qatar to meet top Qatari officials to continue talks on Gaza cease-fire efforts.
This is Blinken's ninth Mideast tour since Oct. 7, which started with Israel where on Monday he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top Israeli officials.