Egypt’s President Al-Sisi To Restore Contact With Bashar al-Assad In Coming Days – Report

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi

Written by Khaled Iskef

The Journal of Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported, citing Egyptian sources, about A “private” confirmation of Cairo officials’ agreements on the possibility of establishing contact between Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, and his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi. The potential call, considered as the first of its kind, is expected in coming days.

The report clarified that the Egyptians strive to establish this contact, aiming to expand their roles in the Syrian file in the coming days. Recently, Egypt has made many attempts to come to an agreement with Turkey and reach a solution to regional problems, in particular, aimed at ending the Syrian war.

The sources also revealed that Egypt prioritized the importance of the Syrian file over other issues during the discussions with Turkey. During the last meeting between the two sides, the security delegate of Cairo reportedly rendered a set of demands inquiring about the nature of Turkish role in Syria, after consulting over security levels with Syrian officials.

An obvious rapprochement between Syria and Egypt has been recently observed, especially when holding special discussions to reactivate the Arabian gas pipeline and the agreement over allowing the transit of electricity from Egypt to Lebanon through Syria and Jordan.

Many attempts from Egypt to take part in the Syrian case as a “mediator” was noted by launching initiatives and making arrangements in order to restore the stability in Syria and reach a solution to end the unceasing war since 2011. However, the intransigence of the supporters of the armed factions has let these initiatives down every time.

Among the signs that assure the tendency of Egypt to restore and enhance the relations with Syria, there is the arrangement of this first contact between the two presidents, which should come after less than a month from the meeting, which was also the first of its kind, and took place between the Syrian Foreign Minister, Faisal al-Mekdad, and his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukry, on the margins of the UN in New York. The meeting, then, uncovered obvious mutual rapprochements and intentions to solve problems that the two countries are facing.

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