Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi met on Monday a number of world leaders, US politicians and former officials in New York during the 71st United Nations General Assembly meeting. El-Sisi met UN-secretary general Ban Ki-Moon in New York where they discussed the latest regional developments, the Egyptian presidency said. According to an Egyptian presidential statement, El-Sisi and Ki-Moon discussed the latest developments concerning the peace process in the Middle East between the Palestinians and Israelis as well the efforts to restore stability in Libya. During the meeting, El-Sisi praised the efforts of Ki-Moon during his terms as the UN secretary-general. Ki-Moon's current tenure will end on 31 December. El-Sisi also met Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern, discussing Egyptian-Austrian political and economic relations. The Egyptian president also met his Cypriot counterpart, Nicos Anastasiades, and discussed bilateral relations between Egypt and Cyprus, with a focus on economics - specifically in the fields of agriculture and fish farming. During another meeting with the head of the European Council Donald Tusk, El-Sisi discussed the latest developments of Egypt's political and economic reforms as well the importance of the Egyptian-European relations. Tusk and El-Sisi also discussed regional developments as well challenges in the Middle East. "The president stressed the importance of solving the problem of irregular immigration through political solutions to the crises in the Middle East as well through opening legal channels for migrants," said presidential spokesman Alaa Youssef. El-Sisi also sat down with Republican U.S congressman Dana Rohrabacher -- the head of the Bipartisan House Egypt Caucus -- as well the Republican US congressman French Hill, a member in the House committee for financial services. The Egyptian president discussed the strategic bilateral relations between the United States and Egypt in various different fields -- including joint counter-terrorism efforts and military cooperation. El-Sisi held a meeting with a number of former political and military officials as well as the heads of research centres and think tanks where he spoke about the political and economic reforms in Egypt and the latest developments in the Middle East region.
