Egyptian army official visits London  

Egypt’s army chief of staff, Mahmoud Hegazy, left Cairo airport on Wednesday heading to the UK capital London.

An official security source, speaking on condition of anonymity as he had no authority to speak to media, said that Hegazy is accompanied by the army’s military officials. Reasons behind the visit are yet to be announced.

This is the second visit by an Egyptian military official to London in two months, according to Anadolu Agency. In January, Hegazy paid a visit to the UK with the aim of boosting Egyptian-British military cooperation as well as discussing the MENA region’s security and stability challenges, according to an army statement.

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The visit is also considered the third in two years, as the army chief travelled to London in an official visit in September 2015, where he had talks on military and security cooperation with senior British officials.

In a similar context, Hegazy met early this month with the British deputy chief of the defence staff, Mark Carleton-Smith, who headed a delegation to Egypt. The meeting discussed joint cooperation in the military field between the two countries, according to Daily News Egypt.