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Arab League denies Egyptian-Saudi “strained relations”

January 9, 2017 at 5:22 am

The Arab League in session at the Arab League office in Cairo, Egypt [Ahmed Gamil/Anadolu]

There are no tensions between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, Arab League’s Assistant Secretary General Hossam Zaki said in a press conference.

Speaking to reporters at the conference held at the Arab League’s premises in Cairo, Zaki has blamed the media over spreading that the two countries’ relations are “tensioned”. He added that any disagreements have been “exaggerated”.

“I don’t see the relationship between Saudi Arabia and Egypt have escalated to a tense level, officials from both countries repeatedly insisted that relations are not affected”, Zaki reiterated, adding that “rumours have been stemmed from media falsely-announced news”.

He stressed that the Arab Leagues’ Secretary General exerts all the efforts to achieve same views on the various topics between the league’s members.

The conference has also addressed number of issues in the region, as well as discussing the ongoing preparations of the upcoming Arab Summit, which is scheduled to take place in Jordan in March.

The relations between Egypt and Saudi Arabia flourished in April following the Saudi’s king visit to Egypt, during which the two countries agreed on providing Egypt with 700,000 tonnes of refined oil products per month for five years.

But the recent tensions between Riyadh and Cairo escalated following Egypt’s vote against a French bill in the UN Security Council, rejecting the Russian intervention in Syria, which Saudi Arabia was backing.

In October, Saudi Arabia informed Egypt that shipments of oil products expected under a $23 billion aid deal had been halted indefinitely. The Saudi government has also placed an import ban on certain Egyptian products last month over alleged contamination.

Last month, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry denied reports over “turbulent” relation between the two nations, describing the relationship as “special”.

According to Egyptian official sources, senior Egyptian officials met with their Saudi counterparts last month in Riyadh to allegedly “clear the air”.