Egypt’s Grand Imam of al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed al-Tayeb (right)
receives Michel Aoun at his office in Cairo on February 13, 2017 ©KHALED
DESOUKI

Leader of Egypt’s Coptic Church, Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria (left)
receives Michel Aounat St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in the
Abbassia District of Cairo on February 13, 2017 ©KHALED DESOUKI (AFP)

News compiled by AFP and Daily News Egypt –

by Daily Mail – The newly elected Lebanese
president Michel Aoun has arrived in Egypt on Monday afternoon for his
first official visit since his inauguration for the sake of fostering
relations with Egypt in all fields.Following
his arrival at Cairo International, Aoun met with President Abdel
Fattah Al-Sisi, and both held a press conference following their meeting
in the headquarters of the Egyptian Presidency in the Heliopolis
suburb During the press
conference, broadcasted through the official Egyptian state-run channel,
Al-Sisi asserted that Egypt will continue its support for Lebanon in
all fields and that he is confident that Aoun’s presidency will foster
the Lebanese cultural and political diversity that is based on
compatibility between different political entities. Al-Sisi
noted that Egypt is in full readiness to support the capabilities of
the Lebanese army and its different security apparatuses, and that
bilateral discussion touched the counterterrorism efforts, the Syrian
crisis, and the refugee crisis that Lebanon is currently suffering from.

“Egypt
always sought to keep Lebanon stable, and it communicated with
different Lebanese political entities to affirm that dialogue is the
solution to all disputes. Egypt was among the first countries that
welcomed the Lebanese people’s ability to reach political agreement that
has been made in Lebanon without interference from external entities,”
said Al-Sisi during his speech delivered in the press conference. Moreover,
he stressed that Egypt will do its best to keep Lebanon away from any
tribulations that drag it into any religious or doctrinal conflicts that
only aim to eliminate tolerance and diversity from the Arab world.

“We
also discussed the current ongoing preparations executed for launching
the upcoming Arab Summit that will take place in Jordan. I really
appreciate President Aoun’s invitation to visit Lebanon, and I will be
there soon,” Al-Sisi concluded in his speech. On
his turn, Lebanese president Michel Aoun noted during his speech that
Egypt and Lebanon are connected by strong historical relations since the
Arab renaissance, saying that all hopes are pinned on the role that
Egypt can play by launching Arab initiatives to execute common strategy
to counter terrorism. Egypt
is capable of finding political solutions to the urgent crises in the
Arab world, especially in Syria where the fire spread widely years ago
and left its effects on Lebanon that manifested in the increase of
Lebanon’s population by 50%,” Aoun added.

In
January, Minister of Industry and Trade Tarek Kabil said that Egyptian
exports to Lebanon increased by 65% during 2016 compared to 2015, adding
that a lot of different fields benefited from the increase. Construction
materials manufacturers benefitted most from the hike in exports, as
their exports increased by 225% to a record EGP 277m, Kabil said in a
statement issued during a meeting with Lebanese agriculture minister
Ghazi Zaiter, who was visiting Cairo. Both ministers discussed
increasing Egypt’s exports of potatoes to 60,000 tonnes compared to
57,000 tonnes in 2015 worth $57m

by AFP Lebanese President Michel Aoun
on
Monday started his first visit to Cairo since his election in October
and held talks with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and
religious leaders. “Hopes of
the role that Egypt could play are high. An Egypt of moderation and
openness… could launch an Arab rescue initiative based on a strategy
to fight terrorism,” Aoun said at a joint press conference. He said
Egypt could “work on finding political solutions for the crises in the
Arab world and especially Syria”.

The
two sides “agreed on the need to
stand together against the dangers of terrorism”, Sisi said, adding that
Egypt was ready “to support the capabilities of Lebanon’s army and its
various security bodies”. Aoun,
a Maronite Christian, also met the leader of Egypt’s Coptic Church,
Pope Tawadros II, and held talks with Grand Imam Ahmed al-Tayeb of
Al-Azhar, the highest institution of Sunni Islam. On Tuesday, the
Lebanese president is scheduled to meet Ahmed Abul Gheit, secretary
general of the Cairo-based Arab League. Aoun,
who was elected with the support of the powerful Iran-backed Shiite
movement Hezbollah, visited Saudi Arabia last month on a mission to
patch up relations with Riyadh. A
Lebanese official source said at the time that Saudi Arabia and Lebanon
had agreed to hold talks on restoring a $3-billion military aid package
that Riyadh froze last year. Mainly
Sunni Saudi Arabia, a fierce regional rival of Iran, froze the aid deal
over what it said was Hezbollah’s dominance in Lebanon. Aoun’s election
ended a two-year deadlock between Iran- and Saudi-backed blocs in the
Lebanese parliament.

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