Sisi ratifies Egypt’s accession to Charter of Council of Arab-African States bordering Red Sea, Gulf of Aden

CAIRO- 26 November 2020: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi issued a presidential decree to ratify a new charter of establishing the Council of Arab-African States located on the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

 

The ratification came two days after Saudi Arabia’s warnings against the Iranian-backed group of Houthis in Yemen, which represents a threat against the international maritime trade navigation in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb Strait.

 

Sisi’s ratification was published in the Egyptian official gazette, Al-Waqa'i' al-Misriyya, on Thursday to come into force on the following day of the publication. 

 

The Egyptian House of Representatives approved the presidential decision on the charter on July 20, 2020.

 

The council state members are Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Eritrea, and Djibouti.

 

The Arab-African Council aims to raise the level of cooperation between the participating countries, coordinate political positions, increase security cooperation between countries, and develop economic, trade, and investment relations.

 

 

In January 2020, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry signed the Charter in Riyadh. This came in a meeting held for the foreign ministers of Arab and African countries.

 

Following signing the charter, Saudi Monarch King Salman Bin Abdelazizi congratulated the state members on signing the new charter.