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Egyptian Interim President Adli Mansour concluded on Tuesday his first foreign trip to Saudi Arabia and Jordan since he took office in July.
The visit, aimed firstly to express gratitude to the two Arab countries for their support to the interim Egyptian government in the wake of the ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi, is also expected to reinforce bilateral cooperation amid the recent changes in the region.
During his meeting with Mansour, Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud vowed full support for Egypt, confirming the stance of the Saudi government and people to support Egypt against terrorism and sedition.
For his part, Mansour thanked the Saudi king and government for their stance to support the will of the Egyptian people and help Egypt overcome its economic crisis due to the recent unrest.
"Choosing the Saudi Kingdom as destination for the first visit by the interim president reflects how important the Egypt-Saudi Arabia ties are," said Osama el-Dalil, head of Foreign Affairs Department at Al-Ahram el-Araby magazine.
Saudi Arabia was also the destination of the first foreign visit of former President Morsi when he took office in 2012.
"However, we can find big differences between the two visits, as Saudi regime didn't give support to the Brotherhood regime and always considered it as a threat to its strategic security," el- Dalil added referring to the political and economic support that Saudi Arabia has offered to the interim government in the wake of Morsi's overthrow.
Saudi king was the first head of state to congratulate interim President Adli Mansour's appointment in July. The Saudi Arabia then announced an aid package of 5 billion U.S. dollars to Egypt, followed by other packages from United Arab of Emirates and Kuwait.
Mohamed Mansour, head of the Future Studies Centre at Assuit University, argues that the visit can be seen as an endeavor to establish a united Arab stance on terrorism.
"The two countries are suffering the same threats of terrorism and it's normally to declare such stance," he said, adding that Saudi Arabia deserved the appreciation of Egyptian government as it was able with some other Gulf countries to save Egypt from international isolation and even were able to affect the stance of some foreign powers toward Egypt.
In Saudi Arabia, the two leaders also discussed cooperation prospects between the two countries as well as means to enhance such cooperation in a way that serves the two countries and their peoples in all fields.
Egyptian interim President Mansour concluded his tour with a visit to Jordan, where both leaders discussed issues of mutual interests between the two countries.
Jordan was also one of the countries that showed early support for Egyptian uprising against Morsi and also one of the countries that sees increasing influence by Muslim Brotherhood.
