Portuguese President Rebelo de Sousa will begin a state visit to Cairo on Thursday, during which he will meet with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and with speaker of Egypt's parliament, Ali Abdel-Aal.

Parliamentary sources told Ahram Online that de Sousa and Abdel-Aal will focus on discussing political and parliamentary relations between Egypt and Portugal during their meeting on Thursday afternoon.

One source said they will also discuss the possibility of forming an Egyptian-Portuguese parliamentary friendship association.

"Speaker Abdel-Aal is expected to give President de Sousa a review of pieces of legislation passed by parliament on matters related to fighting terrorism and human trafficking, boosting economic reform, and reinforcing religious tolerance," said a parliamentary source, adding that "Portugal took a positive position towards Egypt after the country's uprising against Muslim Brotherhood in June 2013."

The Portuguese president will meet with Egypt's president Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi at the beginning of his visit on Thursday.

"When President El-Sisi was in Portugal in 2016, he visited the Portuguese parliament, meeting with senior members there," said the source.

De Sousa will also visit Islamic learning institute of Al-Azhar on Thursday to meet with Grand Imam sheikh Ahmed El-Tayyeb.

The Portuguese president is expected to address Al-Azhar's religious clerics and students on the importance of coexistence and religious tolerance in a lecture entitled Vision of a Teacher and President.

He will also meet with Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria in the Coptic cathedral in Abbasiya in Cairo.

The visit will also include a meeting with the Egyptian-Portuguese Businessmen Association.

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