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| Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri speaks to media after the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt meeting to discuss their dispute with Qatar, in Manama, Bahrain July 30, 2017. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed |
Egyptโs President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Saturday dispatched his foreign minister for talks with Arab nations over the regional crisis triggered by the resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, the ministry said.
Haririโs resignation has plunged Lebanon into crisis, pushing the small Arab country to the forefront of rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Shiโite revolutionary Iran, and heightening regional tensions.
Egyptโs Foreign minister Sameh Shoukry will tour Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and Saudi Arabia, for bilateral talks, but also to discuss regional developments with a message from Sisi, the ministry statement said.
โThe foreign ministerโs tour comes in the framework of permanent consultations between Egypt and Arab brothers on mutual relations and the conditions in the region, especially in the shadow of developments in Lebanonโs political arena,โ it said.
A foreign ministry spokesman said the minister will confirm Egyptโs position on the need for Arab solidarity and to avoid negative fallout on regional security.
Saudi Arabia says Hariri resigned because Hezbollah, which was included in Haririโs coalition government, had โhijackedโ Lebanonโs political system. Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Shiโite group, has accused Riyadh of detaining Hariri and forcing him to resign as a way to destabilize the country.
Sisi said on Wednesday he was against military strikes on Iran or the Tehran-backed Hezbollah, saying there was enough turmoil in the Middle East and has stressed the importance of de-escalation.
Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab states have given Egypt aid ever since general-turned-president Sisi led the militaryโs ouster of former President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013 following mass protests.
