Italy's Conte hails Egypt's role in resolving Libyan issue: Radi

CAIRO- 13 November 2018: President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi met Tuesday, Nov. 13 with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte who welcomed Sisi's participation in the Palermo Conference of Concerned Countries on Libya's Issue.

"Conte said that Egypt is a cornerstone of achieving security and stability in the Middle East," Presidential Spokesperson Bassam Radi declared Tuesday.

Radi noted that Conte asserted Italy's keenness to boost bilateral cooperation with Egypt amidthe positive developments taking place at the economic level and the major projects that are meant to contribute to fostering social and economic progress.

Sisi hailed "positive developments" in the Egyptian-Italian relations and lauded enhancing the cooperation level in regional issuesof mutual interest, according to Radi's statements.

"Both leaders discussed various topics including latest investigations of the murder of Italian researcher Giulio Regeni, in addition to fostering mechanisms of economic, commercial and investment relations between Cairo and Rome," Radi added.

At the Libyan issue level, Radi manifested that Sisi and Conte discussed the latest developments of the Libyan topic, noting that "Conte expressed deep appreciation of the Egyptian role in restoring stability, security and supporting the national military institution in Libya."

Sisi, along with officials from western countries, Arab states and Russia,attended the conference in Palermo. Sisi and Libyan Military Commander Khalifa Haftar both skipped the opening dinner on Monday evening, according to Reuters.

"Haftar had flown to the conference on Monday evening and was holding meetings on the sidelines, despite having said he would not participate. A photo showed him meeting Serraj in the presence of Italy's Conte," Reuters disclosed.

Italy hosts a conference seeking to reconcile Libya's rulers a week after the United Nations shelved plans to hold an election in December.

Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj met Haftar in the Italian city of Palermo, an Italian government source told Reuters on Tuesday.