Sisi addresses Gulf issues, bilateral ties in Abu Dhabi

CAIRO - 6 February 2018: President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi arrived on Tuesday in the capital of the United Arab of Emirates (UAE), Abu Dhabi, where he will discuss the bilateral relations and regional and international issues of mutual concern, following a three-day visit to Oman Sultanate.

He will meet with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.

On September 25, 2017, President Sisi paid a two-day visit to Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed al-Nahayan, and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the UAE Vice President and the Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai. During the visit they discussed bilateral and regional issues, particularly the situation in the Gulf region.

Also, President Sisi visited the UAE on May 3 for two days to boost economic ties. On December 1, 2016, Sisi visited Abu Dhabi again.

The UAE is a strategic ally of Egypt and one of the Gulf countries that supported President Sisi since he took power in June 2014.

Sisi’s Tuesday visit came after holding a series of meetings with Sultan Qaboos of the Omani Sultanate, which is sitting on the Gulf dispute fence. The sultanate, one of the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, has not participated in the Saudi-led military alliance in Yemen called “Resolute Storm” which has been going on since March 2015 against the Iran-backed Houthis. The sultanate has brokered negotiations to put an end to the ongoing conflict.

Also, Oman is not one of the Arab states (Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Egypt) that severed its ties with Qatar over Arab quartet accusation of “financially supporting terrorist groups” on July 5, 2017. Since then, Kuwait meditated to solve the issue.

In his first visit to Oman, President Sisi discussed the Gulf issues with Sultan Qaboos, who valued Egypt’s role in enhancing the Gulf’s stability and security, according to a statement by Egyptian Presidential Spokesperson Bassam Radi on Sunday.

During the Yemen crisis, hundreds of Egyptian expats were stranded in Yemen and the Egyptian authorities coordinated with Saudi Arabia and Oman to open their borders with Yemen to facilitate their return.