Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy met on Saturday with his Emirati counterpart Sheikh Abdullah Al-Nahyan to discuss the current relations between both countries. Both ministers focused on the political, economic and social relations between the countries, especially since there is a large Egyptian population living in the United Arab Emirates, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Badr Abdel Atty. After the ouster of former president Mohamed Morsi the UAE announced it will issue a $1bn grant, in addition to a $2bn interest-free deposit with the Central Bank of Egypt. Abdel Atty said the ministers discussed regional issues, including the Syrian crisis and recent peace talks between Israel and Palestine. Fahmy also discussed updates on the Syrian conflict with United Nations and Arab League Special Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi on Thursday, according to a statement by the Foreign Ministry. Brahimi presented Fahmy with the result of his recent phone calls concerning solutions to the Syrian crisis which will be discussed on the Geneva Conference 2, Abdel Atty said in the statement. "Fahmy assured Brahimi that Egypt supports the revolution in Syria and is looking into finding a political solution that can maintain the unity of the Syrian people," read the statement, adding: "Fahmy assured Egypt's intention to make more phone calls with the various regional and international parties concerned with the matter in order to intensify the ongoing efforts to achieve these goals." Abdel Atty said in the statement that the state also intends to contact the Syrian opposition to encourage them to unite their views concerning the future of Syria and on how they can get the country out of the current crisis.
