Prince Naif Bin Abdul Aziz, Second Deputy Premier and Interior Minister, arrived in Cairo Sunday evening on a four-day visit at the invitation of Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmad Nadeef. The visit is expected to further strengthen the long-standing bilateral cooperation between the Kingdom and Egypt on a variety of issues, including security, economy, and scholarly research. Prince Naif was accompanied by Abdullah Zainal, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Abdulrahman Al-Rubai'an, Supervisor General of Prince Naif's Office, Saed Al-Orabi Al-Harthi, Advisor to Prince Naif, Osama Tayeb, President of King Abdul Aziz University, Abdullah Al-Othman, President of King Saud University, and a number of princes and senior officials. Later in the evening, Prime Minister Nadeef held a dinner banquet in honor of Prince Naif. The former Secretary General of the Arab League Ismat Abdul Majeed described Prince Naif's first visit to Egypt since being named Second Deputy Prime Minister as a show of the “deep relations and mutual understanding between Saudi Arabia and Egypt”. “Prince Naif has had a great part to play in Saudi-Egyptian cooperation in security areas and in combating terrorism,” Abdul Majeed said. “A visit on such a senior level shows a mutual, personal and political will not just to improve mutual relations but also to improve Arab relations and begin a new chapter in regional affairs.” Abdul Majeed said that the cooperation between Riyadh and Cairo and Arab states neighboring Iraq served as a model in working towards stability, development and putting an end to violence in the country. “Saudi-Egyptian coordination is the only guarantee of avoiding an explosion of regional problems and to achieve calm and stability in the region,” he said. Deputy Secretary General of the Arab League Ahmed Bin Hali said expectations were high from the meetings held between countries neighboring Iraq. “What happens in Iraq has a great affect on the rest of the region,” Bin Hali said. Abdullah Al-Ash'al, former assistant foreign minister and professor of international law, said that relations between Riyadh and Cairo represented an important axis for the “defense of Arab and Islamic interests, first and foremost the Palestinian Cause and Jerusalem.” “The visit will see Saudi-Egyptian coordination on a range of sensitive Middle Eastern issues, notably Iraq and joint cooperation on the approaching Haj season,” Al-Ash'al said. “There are positive indications that the visit will lead to fundamental solutions to issues related to Palestine and Lebanon, while the return of Saudi-Syrian relations to their correct path following the recent summit in Damascus will strengthen joint Arab work to serve the interests of Arabs and their various issues.”
