Cairo: Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the president of Egypt, met with Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister of Iraq, on Sunday in Cairo as the two nations work to strengthen their ties and a regional alliance with Jordan.
When Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, the prime minister of Iraq, arrived in Cairo, his Egyptian counterpart, Mustafa Madbouly, met him at the airport. Bands played the two nations' anthems as Al-Sudani and Madbouly inspected an honor guard.
The two then met at the presidential palace with the prime minister of Iraq. According to Ahmed Fahmy, a spokesman for the Egyptian presidential office, their discussions focused on economic cooperation and security ties between the two nations.
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The two leaders also talked about their cooperation with Jordan and other regional issues, according to a statement from Fahmy. The statement gave no further details. The talks were attended by the foreign and trade ministers of both nations, according to Fahmy.
Al-trip Sudani's was his first to Cairo following the Iraqi parliament's approval of his Cabinet in October, which broke a year-long political impasse. Former Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, who preceded Al-Sudani, developed a close bond with El-Sisi and Jordan's King Abdullah II.
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El-Sisi visited Baghdad in June 2021, making history as the first Egyptian head of state to go there since relations between the two countries were severed in the 1990s as a result of Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait.
The leaders of Egypt, Iraq, and Jordan have held five summits since 2019, the most recent of which took place in December at the Dead Sea in Jordan to discuss implementing strategic projects.
According to Egypt's state-run Al-Ahram daily, some of these include the construction of gas pipelines between Iraq and Egypt through Jordan and an industrial city on the border between Iraq and Jordan.
Al-Kadhimi has also worked to improve his nation's reputation in the Middle East as a skilled negotiator who can persuade even the most adamant adversaries to sit down and talk.