Saudi King Salman invites Egypt's Sisi to visit Riyadh

The Dead Sea Region - The two countries have disagreed over Syria and the transfer of two Red Sea islands from Egypt to Saudi Arabia.

The long-awaited meeting between the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi took place on the sidelines of the Arab Summit, putting an end to the frayed relations between the two countries following the misunderstanding created by some media outlets, writers and analysts.
King Salman invited El Sisi to visit Riyadh next month, a sign that reflects the bilateral relations between the two countries are stronger than what was reported by some media outlets, especially after the case of the two Islands of Tiran and Sanafir.
Sisi welcomed the invitation and in turn invited King Salman back, his office said in a statement on Wednesday.
The two leaders discussed improving relations, the statement said. The two countries have disagreed over Syria and the transfer of two Red Sea islands from Egypt to Saudi Arabia.
"King Salman promised to visit Egypt in the very near future based on an invitation from President Abdel Fattah El Sisi," the statement also said.
Analysts told Khaleej Times that the Arab Summit could be named as the summit of Arabs reunion as its participants agreed on many issues including Palestine.
The Saudi king also met Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi. After the meeting, the Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim Al Jafari told reporters that the Iraqi-Saudi relations were somewhat frayed but the two sides had healed the rift.
"The ties between the two countries did not reach that point that required reconciliation and that the relations were never ever discontinued between the two in the past," Al Jafari added.
The summit supports Arab coalition and legitimacy in Yemen, but the countries were neutral in their address towards Syria, though the Amir of Qatar His Highnes Sheikh Tamim Al Thani highlighted the issue.
Faisal Malkawi, editor in-chief of the Jordan's Arabic daily Al Rai told Khaleej Times that any positive surprise could be envisioned, and the Arab League still brings together the Arab leaders.
"However, Arabs have nothing else but to unite, and I think the Summit is an opportunity for the Arab countries to resolve their issues, or all our issues will be moved for discussion at international level, so where is the joint Arab action," he said. Foreign ministers had earlier endorsed the Arab peace initiative, rejecting the nomination of Israel for the membership of the UN Security Council for 2019-2020 and condemned Tehran's interference in the Arab Affairs.
malzarooni@khaleejtimes.com

• Saudi Arabia
• MENA