Cairo: His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, arrived in Cairo on Tuesday and met Egyptian President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi, highlighting the warm ties between the two Arab allies.
Al Sissi welcomed Shaikh Mohammad at Cairo airport and escorted him for talks aimed at enhancing relations between Egypt and the UAE and review of the regional scene, an Egyptian presidential official said.
“The visit tackles ways of furthering relations between the two countries and the latest developments related to a number of issues of mutual interest, in view of the deep-rooted bonds binding the two countries and their peoples,” Egyptian presidential spokesman Bassam Radi added.
“Egyptian-Emirati relations are special, dating back decades since the time of late Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who has special status among the Egyptian people because of his historic and noble stances towards Egypt, which continue to [be upheld] by UAE rulers today,” the Egyptian official said.
Shaikh Mohammad’s visit is his ninth to Egypt since Al Sissi took office in mid-2014. His previous visit to Egypt was in April this year, days after Al Sissi’s re-election.
Egypt and the UAE are major allies. Both countries are part of an Arab quartet that broke off diplomatic, transportation and trade links with Qatar last year, over its support for terrorism.
The UAE is a traditional diplomatic and financial backer of Egypt. This support has grown since mid-2013 when the army, then led by Al Sissi deposed president Mohammad Mursi, a senior official in the Muslim Brotherhood, following enormous protests against his rule. The Brotherhood is outlawed in Egypt and the UAE.