CAIRO: Egypt’s military ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi was headed to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to attend the funeral of Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, the official MENA news agency reported.
It is Tantawi’s first trip abroad since he took power in February when a popular uprising ousted Hosni Mubarak.
The body of Prince Sultan, who died Saturday in a New York hospital, was repatriated to Riyadh late Monday for a subdued funeral, in line with strict Islamic traditions applied in the ultra-conservative kingdom.
Tantawi is accompanied on his trip by members of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), which he heads, and Electricity Minister Hassan Yunis.
