CAIRO: The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz visited Cairo yesterday, on his first trip to Egypt since the 2011 ouster of dictator Hosni Mubarak, for talks with President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi.
Riyadh hailed last July’s ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Mursi by ex-army chief Sisi and has pledged billions of dollars in aid to Egypt’s military-installed authorities. Sisi boarded Abdullah’s plane on the tarmac at Cairo airport for their hour-long meeting.
State news agency Mena said Sisi “thanked the king for the significant support recently given by Saudi Arabia to Egypt”.
The pair discussed a “Friends of Egypt” conference proposed by Riyadh to garner economic support for Egypt, as well as the unrest in Syria, Iraq and Libya, Mena said.
Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab and other members of the government were present for King Abdullah’s arrival, with tight security ahead of the brief visit, airport sources said.
Following the talks, the Saudi monarch’s aircraft left for home.
Meanwhile, two Egyptians were killed after Friday prayers between Islamist protesters and residents of a Cairo neighbourhood, the interior ministry said in a statement.
Police arrested 33 people in five provinces where skirmishes broke out between supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and ousted President Mohamed Mursi and locals who support Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the former army chief who ousted him, it said. Firearms and birdshot were used in Friday’s clashes in the Marg area of northeast Cairo, the ministry’s statement said, without specifying whether the dead were protesters.
AFP
