(AFP PHOTO / HO / EGYPTIAN PRESIDENCY)
President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi has held talks with top officials, including the heads of state of Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain as well as Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, within hours of his inauguration on Sunday.
The Egyptian president met with Saudi Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud. The Saudi prince asserted his country’s “constant position of supporting Egypt and preserving its security and stability”. Al-Sisi also held talks with Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. The two sides agreed on the need to strengthen cooperation in order to serve their common interests, state-run MENA reported.
Since the removal of Muslim Brotherhood politician and former president Mohamed Morsi, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have pledged billions of dollars in the form of grants, deposits and petroleum products to help boost Egypt’s ailing economy. After Al-Sisi was announced president last week, Saudi Arabian King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud called for a conference where “friends and brothers of Egypt” discuss economic support for Egypt. Al-Sisi thanked the Saudi king for the initiative in his inauguration speech.
In his meeting with Al-Sisi, Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifah stressed the “historic ties” between the two countries and asserted that Bahrain will continue to support Egypt under all circumstances, Bahrain’s state agency BNA reported.
Jordan’s King Abdullah assured Al-Sisi after the latter’s inauguration that Jordan backs Egypt and the choices of its people and that it supports the “efforts of its new leadership in establishing security and stability”, MENA reported. Last July, the Jordanian king was the first foreign leader to visit Egypt after the ouster of Morsi.
The Jordanian king and top Gulf officials are part of the foreign dignitaries, ranging from heads of state to low-level delegation, which arrived in Cairo to attend the Field Marshal’s inauguration. Besides Qatar, which was a strong backer of Morsi’s administration and has condemned his removal, Gulf countries were well represented at the inauguration.
