CAIRO : Egypt today hailed Saudi King Abdullah as a wise leader who made historical contributions towards Arab solidarity and declared a seven-day mourning over his death.
“Egyptian people won’t forget the historical contributions of King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud towards Egypt,” said President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, condoling the death of the 90-year-old Saudi monarch.
“These contributions expressed his wiseness and deep faith in Arab solidarity,” Sisi said in a statement.
A seven-day mourning has been declared in Egypt over the death of the Saudi king, Egyptian TV reported.
Sisi, who had paid a short visit on Monday to Saudi Arabia to check on the ailing king, has decided to cut short his visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to attend the royal funeral today, his office said.
But he is unlikely to reach there in time for the funeral due to bad weather conditions.
The Egyptian President has assigned a high-profile delegation headed by Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab to attend the funeral, said Alaa Yousef, the presidential spokesperson.
King Abdullah was a major ally of the Egyptian government against Islamic extremism following the army’s ouster of president Mohammad Morsi in mid-2013.
Following the inauguration of Sisi last May, the Saudi monarch proposed an international conference to help the Egyptian economy, which had been battered by more than three years of political tension and street turmoil following the 2011 uprising against long-time president Hosni Mubarak.
Abdullah was the first head of state to visit Cairo after Sisi’s election win last May.
The Egyptian leader in August last year reciprocated with a trip to the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah for talks with Abdullah. (AGENCIES)
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