Bin Zayed visits Egypt, attends opening of new military base amid Gulf crisis

Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces has arrived in Egypt Saturday to discuss with Egypt’s Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi ‘ways to strengthen fraternal cooperation and strategic relations between the two countries’ as well as a number of regional and international issues.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed attended on Saturday the opening of a new military base in north-west Egypt ahead of celebrations for the country’s Revolution Day, the UAE’s state news agency reported. Bin Zayed as well as a number of high-profile Arab delegations attended the ceremony at the Mohamed Naguib Military Base, located in the coastal Al Hamam area of Marsa Matruh Governorate.

Students from several military colleges and institutions were graduating at the event.

Upon his arrival, Sheikh Mohammed was received by Abdel Fattah El Sisi, and Egyptian defense and military production minister Sedki Sobhy, along with a number of other Egyptian ministers and senior military commanders.

Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed, Deputy Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, and Lieutenant General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, also attended the event.

Among the other Arab delegations were representatives from other Gulf countries, including Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the crown prince of Bahrain, Prince Khalid Al Faisal, governor of Saudi Arabia’s Mecca province, and Sheikh Mohammad Al Khaled, Kuwait’s deputy prime minister and minister of defence.

At the beginning of the ceremony, a guard of honor was presented to dignitaries and the Egyptian national anthem was played, Wam said.

Egypt’s Revolution Day, which falls on July 23, marks the 1952 military coup that led to the end of the monarchy and the establishment of an independent republic.