CAIRO, 4 April 2005 — Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal met in Sharm Al-Sheikh yesterday and discussed various regional developments, including issues addressed by the Algiers Arab summit.
“President Mubarak and Prince Saud discussed the results of the 12th ministerial meeting of the Saudi-Egyptian Joint Committee and how to boost relations between the two countries,” said presidential spokesman Suleiman Awad.
“They also talked about issues currently plaguing the Arab world, and the outcome of the talks with United Nations’ Middle East envoy Terje Roed-Larsen on the Syrian-Lebanese crisis,” he told reporters.
Egypt has been at the forefront of Arab efforts to mediate in the crisis, said Awad, and believes that Syria has responded positively to the calls for a full withdrawal of its troops from Lebanon.
Prince Saud also met with his counterpart Ahmad Abul-Ghait and agreed on establishing two bureaus in Cairo and Riyadh to offer services and facilitate financial procedures for both Egyptian and Saudi businessmen. The two offices will be ready in four months and will deal with problems such as movement of merchandize, taxation and customs.
“It is important to hold the meetings of the business committee regularly as it represents a chance to evaluate what has been achieved ... and to draw plans for further coordination between the two countries for greater results,” said Prince Saud.
“Our expectations are immense but they are not impossible to achieve with the strong political will and true desire of the two peoples and governments,” he added.
Meanwhile, Egyptian and Saudi air forces yesterday began joint exercises code-named “Faisal-6”, Egyptian officials told Arab News.
The Egyptian Air Force sent a number of jet fighters to take part in the maneuver at King Fahd Airbase in Taif, held for the sixth consecutive year. The 22-day drill, the longest in the history of air training between the two countries, comes within the framework of the existing cooperation between the Saudi and Egyptian air defense forces.
