France thanks Sisi for his support after Notre Dame fire incident

CAIRO – 16 April 2019: "I would like to thank President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, who expressed his solidarity and support for France on his Twitter account after the Notre-Dame Cathedral fire broke out," French Ambassador to Cairo Stephane Roumtier told Egypt Today Tuesday.

"We received phone calls from Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Minister of Antiquities Khaled Anani, Culture Minister Enas Abdel Dayem, and Pope Tawadros, to express their solidarity with France in this tragedy," he added.

He asserted that the French were not the only ones affected by this tragedy, as it impacted the whole world, including Egyptians. "Hundreds and hundreds of letters of solidarity came from our Egyptian friends who love France," Roumtier said.

The ambassador added that according to the available information on the tragedy of Notre-Dame Cathedral, the incident was unintentional.

Roumtier said that a judicial investigation had been opened and that according to preliminary indications,there were renovations in the roof of the cathedral.

In the same context, French President Emmanuel Macron pledged to rebuild Notre-Dame cathedral on Monday,April 15 after a blaze devastated large parts of the Gothic gem.

"Notre-Dame is our history, our literature, part of our psyche, the place of all our great events, our epidemics, our wars, our liberations, and the epicenter of our lives," Macron told reporters.

"Notre-Dame is burning, and I know the sadness and tremor felt by so many fellow French people. But tonight, I'd like to speak of hope too," he said, announcing the launch of a fundraising campaign.

"Let's be proud, because we built this cathedral more than 800 years ago; we've built it and, throughout the centuries, let it grow and improved it. So I solemnly say tonight: We will rebuild it together," Macron stated.