Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on Friday night met with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz on the sidelines of the 14th Islamic Summit, hosted by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Mecca city.
The two leaders held bilateral talks focusing on enhancing relations between the two nations, as well as the security situation in the Middle East.
The Egyptian presidency confirmed the meeting on Saturday, with spokesperson Bassam Rady noting that King Salman had expressed his appreciation for Egypt’s leadership role in building strong cultural ties between the two sides.
التقى السيد الرئيس عبد الفتاح السيسي مع جلالة الملك سلمان بن عبد العزيز آل سعود، ملك المملكة العربية السعودية وخادم الحرمين الشريفين، وذلك على هامش انعقاد قمة منظمة التعاون الإسلامي بمكة المكرمة. pic.twitter.com/Oi3rIq5P8F
— Abdelfattah Elsisi (@AlsisiOfficial) June 1, 2019
President el-Sisi and his host agreed to continue joint efforts in strengthening cooperation between Arab and Islamic countries with a keen focus on tackling the increasing challenges and threats to regional security.
The Egyptian leader stressed that the Gulf region’s security represents one of the pillars of Arab national security for Egypt and is linked to Egypt’s own national security.
President el-Sisi also met with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman.
With 57 member states from four continents, the OIC is the second-largest intergovernmental organization in the world after the United Nations, with a collective population reaching over 1.8 billion.
The majority of its member states are Muslim-majority countries, while others have significant Muslim populations.
The OIC’s main objectives are to preserve Islamic values, safeguard and defend the national sovereignty and independence of member states and to contribute to international peace and security.
