French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Odrian will visit Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria on Tuesday at the Cathedral of St. Mark in Abbasiya, to express his condolences over the killing of 21 Egyptian Copts by the IS in Libya.
Odrian has condemned the incident as a heinous crime and called on the world to ally against the IS.
Odrian arrived in Cairo on Monday to sign the Rafale jet fighter deal between France and Egypt in a move that reflects Paris's support of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi amid geopolitical tensions.
Egypt will buy 24 Rafale jet fighters, a naval frigate and missiles estimated at 5.2 billion euros from France.
The Rafale jet fighters are manufactured by Dassault Aviation SA, the naval frigate by the DCNS company and the missiles by the MBDA.
Odrian said the deal highlighted the value of the Rafale, which is a high-performance aircraft.
Egypt announced on Monday it bombed several IS sites in Libya hours after the militant group published a video depicting the slaughter of 21 Egyptians that had been kidnapped in Libya in January.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
