Cairo: Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz visited Cairo on his first trip to Egypt since the 2011 ouster of dictator Hosni Mubarak, for talks with President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi.
Riyadh hailed last July’s ouster of Islamist president Mohammad Mursi by ex-army chief Al Sissi and has pledged billions of dollars in aid to Egypt’s military-installed authorities.
Al Sissi boarded King Abdullah’s plane on the tarmac at Cairo airport for their hour-long meeting.
The 90-year-old monarch, on his way home from Morocco, did not leave his plane, which was on the ground at Cairo airport for just over an hour.
King Abdullah’s advanced age and frail health mean he rarely travels on state business, so even the short visit was a clear sign of how he has positioned himself as Al Sissi’s leading Arab ally.
Egypt’s official news agency reported that the talks covered the importance of the two nations working together to address regional challenges, a sign of how the Gulf monarchy sees Cairo as a crucial partner against the rapid rise of Islamism.
Through phone calls to Al Sissi, donations of cash and oil products, supportive statements and his visit to Cairo, King Abdullah has made clear his approval of former army chief Al Sissi as president.
Analysts say Saudi Arabia wants Egypt to be a bulwark against Islamism as conflicts rage in Iraq and Syria that could alter regional alliances and national borders.
Analysts said King Abdullah’s trip indicated Riyadh had put Egypt at the heart of a regional policy aimed at curbing Saudi Arabia’s rival Iran.
No further announcements about financial support immediately emerged from the meeting.
King Abdullah was accompanied by the Saudi ministers of foreign affairs and finance as well as security officials and former intelligence chief Prince Bandar Bin Sultan, Al Arabiya television reported.
Al Sissi served as defence attache in Riyadh during former president Hosni Mubarak’s rule before eventually rising to head up military intelligence, his last job under Mubarak.
State news agency Mena said Al Sissi “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 Ebrahim 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.
Syed Ameen Shalabi of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs think tank called the king’s visit highly symbolic.
It was the first by a head of state since Al Sissi’s election victory, and shows Riyadh’s “political support for Egypt, as well as its economic and financial backing”. Shalabi said.
Al Sissi won Egypt’s May 26-28 presidential election after retiring from the army.
After Mursi’s ouster, Riyadh quickly pledged $5 billion (Dh18.37 billion) in aid to Cairo, with Kuwait and the UAE offering a combined $7 billion.
Saudi Arabia had long seen Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood as a threat and has declared it a “terrorist” organisation, months after Egypt itself blacklisted the group.
