MENA - During his meeting with Iraqi PM Mohamed Shia El-Sudani on Thursday, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said that Egypt insists on aiding and supporting Iraq and the Iraqi people in their war on terrorism and their struggle to restore stability and peace.

According to the Egyptian Presidency, President El-Sisi met in Riyadh with Prime Minister El-Sudani ahead of the first China-Arab summit which will be held in the Saudi capital. 

The Egyptian Presidency said that this is the first meeting between the Egyptian President and the Iraqi Premier who was sanctioned by parliament to form the new Iraqi government in late October.

During the meeting, President El-Sisi extended his congratulations once again to PM Sudani for assuming his position. The Egyptian leader emphasized his great appreciation for Iraq’s government and people, as well as for the close fraternal relations between Cairo and Baghdad.

The statement added that the president also stressed Egypt’s keenness to strengthen cooperation with the Arab Gulf country. Egypt will provide such support, the president said, whether through the trilateral cooperation mechanism framework with Jordan or through bilateral cooperation, according to the statement.

The Egyptian President underscored the importance of accelerating the process of implementing joint projects between Egypt and Iraq, so that achievements in the field of economy concur with those in the field of politics.

Iraqi PM Sudani asserted, for his side, his country’s appreciation of the Egyptian efforts to support Iraq in all fields, especially in the field of counter-terrorism and in achieving stability and development.

He expressed that he was looking forward to boosting cooperation with Egypt, whether bilaterally or through trilateral cooperation with Jordan. Both leaders reviewed the progress of  bilateral cooperation as well as the projects of the trilateral cooperation with Jordan.

Foreign Ministers of Egypt, Jordan and Iraq held a meeting in Amman on Wednesday to discuss the trilateral cooperation between the three countries. The meeting discussed the progress achieved on projects currently implemented jointly by the three countries in several fields

In June, the three foreign ministers announced in Baghdad the launching of a project to construct an industrial city on the Iraqi Jordanian border. Egypt plans to provide electricity to both Iraq and Jordan through an international grid connection between the three countries.