President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi headed to Saudi Arabia, along with a high-level Egyptian delegation, on Saturday to participate in the Islamic-American Summit scheduled to start on Sunday.
Sisi plans bilateral meetings with Arab presidents on the sidelines of the summit on a number of issues including counter terrorism efforts, and the situations in Libya, Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Palestine.
Fifty-five Arab and Muslim presidents and kings will participate in the summit along with US President Donald Trump.
Presidents of countries who are set to take part in the summit include presidents of Kuwait, Yemen, Oman, Indonesia, Palestine, Bahrain, Tunisia, Qatar, Iraq, Algeria and others.
The summit will be divided into three main sessions. The first will be between Saudi officials and US officials, the second between Gulf countries and US officials and the third between Arab and Muslim leaders and US officials.
Saudi Arabia said in a statement through the official website of the summit that the event will strengthen historical ties between participating countries through joint efforts of tolerance and cooperation set for a promising new start and a bright future for everyone.
“We bring the world together to fight extremism and terrorism,” the statement read.
The Sudan Tribune news website said that Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir would not attend the summit, but would dispatch his office director instead as his representative.
Bashir will not participate in the summit to not to give haters an opportunity, said Director General of the Political and Media Department of Sudan’s presidency Abdul Malik al-Barreer, describing the summit as a
casual event for ongoing good dialogue between Sudan and the United States.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
