Biggest U.S. Trade Mission shows Egypt back in favor after rift

The U.S. sent its biggest-ever trade delegation to Egypt, the latest sign that the allies have repaired the rift that followed the army’s ouster of an elected president last year.

Executives from about 70 companies, including Apache Corp. and Coca-Cola Co., held talks with officials in Cairo to explore opportunities in a country struggling to recover from more than three years of unrest. The mission, organized by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, also met with President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, the former general who was elected in May after leading the overthrow of his Islamist predecessor, Mohamed Mursi.

The U.S. cut some of its annual $1.3 billion military aid to Egypt after the army takeover, though without labeling it a coup. The American position has softened amid efforts to build a regional alliance, which El-Sisi’s Egypt has vowed to join, against Islamist militants. Secretary of State John Kerry said in June that full aid would resume soon.

The reconciliation has angered rights activists who blame El-Sisi for the harshest crackdown on freedoms and political dissent in decades. The U.S. trade mission is “deeply troubling,” according to Sarah Leah Whitson, director of the Middle East and North Africa at Human Rights Watch.

“The Egyptian government is desperate for just this kind of international pat on the back and it’s very eager to demonstrate that everything is back to normal in Egypt,” she said in a phone interview.