Lebanon’s Hariri meets Egyptian military chief Sisi
Lebanon’s former Prime Minister Saad Hariri has traveled to Egypt and held talks with head of the Egyptian armed forces General Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi.
The Wednesday meeting was reported in a statement released by Hariri’s press office, which also added that the talks with Sisi in the Egyptian capital of Cairo “focused on the latest developments in the region.”
Hariri, who is known for his close ties with the United States and Saudi Arabia, also held talks with Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby at the regional organization’s headquarters in Cairo.
Elaraby said he was pleased with the talks, saying it addressed “important upcoming events” in Lebanon after rival factions were able to form a new government headed by Prime Minister Tammam Salam.
The two-month period to elect a new Lebanese president begins on March 25 and parliamentary polls are scheduled for November.
The former prime minister, who leads Lebanon’s so-called Future Movement, has lived outside Lebanon for the past three years due to “security reasons.”
Hariri arrived in Egypt late Tuesday for a two-day visit, heading a Future Movement delegation comprising lawmakers Samir Jisr and Jamal Jarrah, former MPs Bassem Sabaa and Ghattas Khoury, and the former premier’s advisers Radwan al-Sayyed and Nader Hariri, according to the statement released by his office.
He also met Egypt’s former Foreign Minister Amr Moussa and Egypt’s Coptic Pope Tawadros II and plans to also hold talks with other top Egyptian officials including interim President Adly Mansour and Foreign Affairs Minister Nabil Fahmy.
Hariri last visited Egypt in 2010 when he was Lebanon’s prime minister.