Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi met late Sunday in Saudi Arabia with one of his strongest international supporters, King Abdullah, to talk about key security issues impacting the region.
Saudi Arabia’s monarch has given Egypt at least $12 billion in aid to buoy its economy after the military, led by el-Sissi, ousted the country’s President Mohamed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood backers from power amid massive protests.
King Abdullah quickly cemented himself as the new Egyptian leadership’s staunchest supporter and led a foreign diplomacy blitz with Western nations to soften their stances toward last year’s ouster of Egypt’s first democratically elected president.
Sunday’s visit is el-Sissi’s first to the kingdom since his subsequent election win in May. The two leaders share a perceived common threat from the Muslim Brotherhood, and both Egypt and Saudi Arabia outlawed the more than 80-year-old movement by branding it a terrorist organization.
Egyptian and Saudi diplomats were quoted in local media as saying the two leaders are expected to talk about five key issues: the Israeli-Hamas war in Gaza; the conflict in Libya; Syria’s civil war; the Islamic militant advance in Iraq; and terrorism. The official Saudi Press Agency said they talked specifically about Egypt’s mediation efforts for an Israeli-Palestinian cease-fire.
After the meeting, el-Sissi, his foreign minister and chief of staff were hosted to a dinner by King Abdullah’s successor, Crown Prince Salman. The Egyptian president also perform an Islamic pilgrimage in Mecca before departing Monday.
During their meeting, the Saudi king presented Sisi with the King Abdulaziz Necklace, the highest and most prestigious medal in Saudi Arabia.
The two leaders met briefly in June when King Abdullah stopped in Cairo to congratulate el-Sissi on his election. In that meeting, the 90 year-old monarch stayed on onboard his private jet.
/149