Saudi Arabia's foreign minister Adel Al-Jubeir to visit Cairo next week

Gamal Essam El-Din , Wednesday 1 Mar 2017

Parliamentary and diplomatic sources said Al-Jubeir's visit to Egypt comes after a period of strained relations between the two countries

Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir
Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir adjusts his headphones ahead of a joint statements to the press with Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano, at the Italian Foreign Ministry, in Rome, Monday, Feb. 20, 2017 AP

Two Egyptian MPs told reporters Wednesday that foreign minister of Saudi Arabia Adel Al-Jubeir will visit Cairo next week.

Mostafa Bakri, an independent MP and journalist, said there has been much preparation in recent weeks for Al-Jubeir's visit, which will be the first after a period of cold relations between Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

"A number of Egyptian diplomats have visited Saudi Arabia and vice versa in past weeks to prepare the ground for Al-Jubeir's visit," said Bakri.

Abdel-Reheim Ali, an independent MP and journalist, also said he knew from diplomatic sources that Al-Jubeir will visit Cairo next week to prepare the ground for a successful Arab summit scheduled to be held in Amman, Jordan at the end of March.

Ali said the last few weeks saw attempts on both sides to end disagreements on a number of issues related to Syria and the two Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir, which a final Egyptian court ruling has stated are not part of a Saudi territory.

Saudi Arabia has also complained that its policies face a lot of attacks in Egyptian media.

Ali said Saudi Arabia's decision that Egypt be the guest of the Gulf country's Al-Janadriyah's National Festival for Heritage and Culture last month sent a very positive message about the relations between the two countries.

Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi met on 15 February with the Speaker of the Arab parliament Meshaal Bin Fahd El-Salami, a Saudi official.

Al-Jubeir's announced visit to Cairo comes after he made a surprise trip to Iraq on 25 February, as well as Saudi Arabia's decision to name an ambassador in Iraq, which comes after years of tension between the two countries. 

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