Sisi Receives Mauritani’s Sidi Mohamed in Cairo

By Nawal Sayed

CAIRO, March 22 (SEE) - President Abdel Fattah El Sisi received Mauritania's Minister of Culture and Handicrafts and the Mauritanian President's personal envoy Sidi Mohamed on Thursday at Ettahadiya Palace, eastern Cairo.

Sisi welcomed the Mauritanian presidential envoy and lauded President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz's efforts and vision to achieve progress in Mauritania's political and economic reforms over the past years, according to a statement issued by the Egyptian Presidency.

Moreover, the Egyptian president confirmed that Egypt values the firm brotherly bonds between the two countries' leaderships and peoples.

“Sisi is looking forward to further advancing cooperation between Egypt and Mauritania in vital areas of mutual benefit,” the statement read. “President Sisi underlined the need to foster closer cooperation in this regard by sharing information on terrorist organizations and organized crime networks.”

Sisi reiterated Egypt's position in support of Mauritania in the face of terrorism and within the framework of the interconnection between Egypt's national security and the security situation in the Sahel region.

On his part, the envoy of the Mauritanian President underlined Egypt's special position at the official and popular levels in Mauritania.

He lauded the significant measures undertaken over the past period to strengthen bilateral cooperation and commended the major strides achieved in the two countries' relations since the Mauritanian President's visit to Cairo in 2016, which was followed by a visit to Mauritania by the Grand Sheikh of Al Azhar in 2018.

Mohamed added that these efforts confirmed a mutual desire by the two countries' leaderships to enhance cooperation across an array of areas and to continue consultations and coordination on regional and in ternational issues of mutual interest.

During the meeting, the two sides exchanged views on a number of vital regional issues, in light of Egypt's AU chairmanship, notably the Libyan crisis and counter-terrorism efforts in the Sahel region.