Cairo: A visit by Saudi King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz to Egypt due to begin on Thursday will mark a milestone in relations between the two Arab heavyweights and bolster security in a strife-wracked region, experts have said.
“Egypt and Saudi Arabia are the cornerstone of the Arab regional order and as such there is no sense in any talk about Arab unity or any level of Arab coordination without them,” said Osama Al Ghazali, an analyst at the state-run Al Ahram Centre for Strategic Studies.
“This visit is so well-prepared that it promises to be a turning point and a leap forward in ties between the two countries,” he added.
The visit is the first by the Saudi monarch to Egypt since he came to the throne in January 2015. Egyptian President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi has since visited Saudi Arabia several times, the latest was last month when he attended the conclusion of the massive Northern Thunder military drills.
Egyptian officials and media have described King Salman’s visit as historic.
His talks with Al Sissi are expected to focus on tackling regional turmoil and boosting anti-terror combat, they said.
“The visit comes at a very crucial time,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri said, according to Al Ahram. “It will be a chance to coordinate view(s) on different issues of mutual interest for the two countries at the level of Arab national security,” he added.
“It will emphasise the close cooperation between Cairo and Riyadh that has become stronger since the June 30 revolution in Egypt,” Shukri said, referring to the army’s mid-2013 overthrow of Islamist president Mohammad Mursi, who hails from the Muslim Brotherhood.
Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries have since pumped billions of dollars into the Egyptian economy battered by unrest. The Gulf governments were suspicious of Brotherhood-backed Islamists’ moves in the region.
Last December, the Saudi monarch instructed an increase of his country’s investments in business-hungry Egypt to reach $8 billion (Dh29.36 billion). At the time, he also ordered covering Egypt’s needs of oil products for five years.
During King Salman’s Egypt trip that includes a private visit, Egyptian and Saudi officials will sign a raft of economic cooperation agreements, according to local media.
They include a $1.5-billion dollar Saudi programme to develop Egypt’s Sinai, a hotbed of insurgency in recent years.
A university named after King Salman will also be launched in South Sinai during his visit.
“The visit comes to show that the kingdom’s backing for Egypt is a strategic option, not only because of Arab links, but also to confront Iran’s expansionist dreams that have taken shape in Tehran’s interference in the affairs of several Arab countries,” said Mustafa Bakri, a journalist and a member of parliament.
Saudi Arabia and Iran, two regional rivals, are on opposite sides in conflicts in Syria and Yemen. Egypt is a partner to a Saudi-led military alliance fighting Yemen’s Iran-allied rebels.
“The visit also sends a message to US President Barack Obama, who will later this month go to the kingdom to meet Gulf leaders, that Saudi Arabia’s relationship with Egypt is not an object for haggling or concession,” Bakri added. “Obama has to realise that Arab national security has precedence over ties with any other power.”
Washington has recently criticised Egypt over its alleged rights violations.
