Al-Sisi continues bilateral meetings on sidelines of UN general assembly

The president puts Israeli-Palestinian conflict and refugees crisis at the top of the agenda

President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi has continued his bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the UN general assembly. His meetings with several counterparts and other officials tackled several regional and international topics.
Presidency spokesperson Alaa Youssef said in a statement that Al-Sisi met with his French counterpart François Hollande. Youssef said that, during the meeting, Al-Sisi praised the strong ties between Egypt and France, particularly after France delivered the latest Mistral warship to Egypt. Both presidents also stressed on the importance of reaching political solutions to the unrest in several Arab countries.

Hollande praised the strong bilateral relations between the two countries, adding that Egypt is one of France's most important partners in the Middle East. He stated that it's important to keep an open discussion with Egypt regarding the situation in Libya and Syria, and also revive peace talks in the Israeli-Palestinian case. Both presidents also agreed on cooperating in the investigations into the crash of the EgyptAir aeroplane that took off from France's airport in Paris.

Another bilateral meeting was held with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, during which Al-Sisi stressed on Egypt's support for previously suggested international initiatives that aim to settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and reach a lasting peace agreement. Abbas also praised Egypt's attempt to resume negotiations and its stable stance towards supporting the Palestinian case.

Al-Sisi also held a meeting with the Romanian prime minister, in which they discussed the importance of strengthening bilateral trade and economic cooperation between the two countries. The Egyptian president additionally held a meeting with his Macedonian counterpart and the Maltese prime minister to stress on the importance of fostering bilateral ties.

The president also met with Lebanese prime minister Tammam Salam. Al-Sisi said during the meeting that Egypt is looking forward to seeing a stable situation in Lebanon to enable Lebanese citizens to elect a president.

They also discussed fostering bilateral cooperation, in addition to regional political turmoil, particularly in Libya and Syria. They said that the international community should provide assistance to Syria, especially Lebanon, which receives a large number of Syrian refugees. Al-Sisi further discussed the refugees issue with King Abdullah II of Jordan, as they both agreed on the importance of reaching solutions to the political turmoil in Arab countries.

Al-Sisi held a bilateral meeting with Iraqi prime minister Haider Al-Abadi, during which the former praised the attacks that were carried out by the Iraqi military against Islamic State in Iraq and stressed on Egypt's support for Iraq in combating terrorism.