Saudi Crown Prince to arrive in Egypt Sunday for 3-day visit

Mohammed bin Salman is set to visit close ally Egypt this weekend, authorities confirmed.

2 min read

02 March, 2018

Saudi Arabia's King Salman is delegating many powers to his reformist son [AP]

Egypt has announced President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will meet with Saudi's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during his visit to Cairo next week.

Friday's statement given by Sisi's office says the Saudi Crown Prince will arrive in Egypt on Sunday for a three-day visit of the country.

Saudi Arabia - currently undergoing massive social and economic reforms - has bolstered Sisi with massive financial backing since the 2013 military ouster of an Egyptian elected Islamist president. It is estimated to have given Egypt billions of dollars in grants and soft loans, in addition to free shipments of fuel worth tens of millions of dollars.

Saudi Arabia can be seen to exert considerable influence on the north African country, which is currently experiencing economic woes, an IS-affiliated insurgency in the Sinai and a heavy-handed crackdown on political dissent.

Egypt is a member of a Saudi-led coalition fighting Iran-backed rebels in Yemen since 2015.

Egypt is also partaking in the Saudi-led blockade of Qatar imposed in July.

Last year, Sisi ratified the handover of two strategic Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia, triggering rare protests in Egypt. The Saudis also plan to build a bridge spanning the Red Sea to connect the two countries, as part of a $1.7 billion investment deal between Riyadh and Cairo.