Sisi holds first official round of talks with recently crowned Saudi king

Sunday 01-03-2015 09:47 PM
Sisi holds first official round of talks with recently crowned Saudi king
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CAIRO, Mar 1 (Aswat Masriya) - Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Saudi Arabia's King Salman discussed the depth of the "strategic" bilateral ties the two countries share on Sunday.    

Sisi led a delegation to the Saudi capital Riyadh earlier today, in a visit that lasted a few hours. He first held private talks with the Gulf monarch, followed by talks between the two delegations. 

King Salman,79, was crowned as king of the oil-rich nation in January after the death of his predecessor King Abdullah. This is the first round of consultations between Sisi and Salman.   

The visit comes ahead of a major economic conference, running from March 13 to 15, which Egypt hopes will attract investments. 

Saudi Arabia is among the Gulf countries that were quick to financially support Egypt's interim authorities, which took charge after the ouster of Muslim Brotherhood politician and former president Mohamed Mursi in 2013. 

The Gulf neighbor has mediated an agreement to improve Egyptian-Qatari ties in December, during the reign of late king Abdullah.

Together with the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, the three countries have provided Egypt with billions of dollars in aid in the form of deposits to Egypt's central bank, loans and petroleum products.    

In a televised address to the nation last week, Sisi specifically named the three countries saying that their backing is the "main reason" behind Egypt's "continuation despite all challenges it has faced."

In what is believed to be a reference to audio leaks purportedly featuring Sisi and top Egyptian officials ridiculing Gulf countries, he said "we would never offend you," adding that there is an onging "information war."

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