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 "Egypt remains vital ... to engagement and stability in the region
as a whole," said Kerry, who held the first bilateral strategic
dialogue since 2009.
"There are obviously circumstances where we have found reason to
have grave concern and we have expressed it very publicly," he said
at a news conference with Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri. "But we
have multiple issues that we need to work on simultaneously."
U.S.-Egyptian relations cooled after Islamist president Mohamed
Mursi was ousted in 2013 by the military amid mass protests against
his rule.
Cairo remains one of Washington's closest allies in the Middle East,
an increasingly crucial role in a region beset by turmoil in Syria,
Iraq, Yemen and Libya.
Kerry also lobbied for last month's nuclear deal between world
powers and Iran, which has been met with scepticism by Washington's
Arab allies.
"There can be absolutely no question that the Vienna plan, if
implemented, will make Egypt and all the countries of this region
safer than they otherwise would be," he said.
 Kerry said Iran's role as the "number one state sponsor of terror in
the world" made the deal even more important. "If Iran is
destabilizing, it is far, far better to have an Iran that doesn’t
have a nuclear weapon than one that does," he said.
"NO MAJOR DISAGREEMENTS"
Shukri said Cairo had no major disagreements with Washington, only
"differences in points of view over some issues, which is natural".
Washington supports former general Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who led
Mursi's overthrow and was elected to succeed him, but has cautiously
criticized Egypt's human rights record.
Following Mursi's ouster, Cairo cracked down on the now outlawed
Muslim Brotherhood. Security forces killed hundreds of Brotherhood
supporters and jailed thousands more, and later pursued liberal
activists.
Egypt says the Brotherhood is a terrorist group. The Interior
Ministry denies allegations of widespread human rights abuses.
Kerry later met Sisi and a senior State Department official said he
stressed "the importance of press freedom and the protection of
peaceful dissent, stressing that free participation in the political
process is essential to help stem the growth of violent extremism".
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In one such rights case, a Cairo court on Sunday postponed its
verdict in the retrial of Al Jazeera television journalists accused
of aiding a terrorist organization, a reference to the Brotherhood.
Shukri said no journalists in Egypt were in jail over their
reporting. The Committee to Protect Journalists said a prison census
it conducted on June 1 found at least 18 Egyptian journalists were
in jail for their reporting.
Cairo and Washington have been exploring ways to expand their
security relationship. In late March, U.S. President Barack Obama
lifted a hold on supplying arms to Cairo, authorizing deliveries
valued at over $1.3 billion.
The United States delivered eight F-16 fighter jets last week to
Egypt, which is battling insurgents in the Sinai Peninsula who have
killed hundreds of soldiers and police since Mursi's removal. The
most active group there is an affiliate of Islamic State.
Also on Sunday, demonstrators in central Cairo burned American and
Israeli flags in protest against the death of a Palestinian toddler
who died in a suspected Jewish extremist arson attack on his home in
the occupied West Bank on Friday.
Kerry will travel on to Qatar to discuss the fight against Islamic
State with other Arab leaders and seek to reassure them about the
Iran nuclear deal.
(Additional reporting by Omar Fahmy; Writing by Yara Bayoumy and
Shadi Bushra; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
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