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Cairo, Egypt | XINHUA | Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s visit to Egypt, the first by an Algerian president in 14 years, has helped set the agenda for the upcoming Arab League Summit hosted by Algeria, according to analysts.
During the meeting between Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and his Algerian counterpart on Tuesday, they discussed ways to strengthen bilateral political, economic, and commercial relations, regional issues such as the situations in Libya, Syria and Palestine, and terrorism in Africa and the Arab world, according to a statement released by Egypt’s presidency.
“Both sides agreed on activating the mechanism of unified Arab action and maintaining Arab national security in view of common regional challenges,” the statement read.
Tebboune’s visit, according to Tariq Fahmy, a political science professor at Cairo University, will help coordinate efforts to resolve Arab issues ahead of the Arab League summit, which is scheduled for March 22 in Algiers but has been reportedly delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Egyptian expert sees Egypt and Algeria as regional and Arab heavyweights and believes that their active cooperation will help their fight against a number of regional threats.
“Algeria wants the summit to be a success and consultations with Arab powers are important,” Fahmy said.
“During his visit to Cairo, President Tebboune aimed to seek Egypt’s support for increasing the level of participation in the summit, particularly from Arab Gulf states whose presence might have an impact on the summit’s success,” he added.
“The Algerian president seeks top-level Gulf representation,” said Mohamed Sadiq, chairman of the Arab Center for Political Studies in Cairo.
However, given Algeria’s objection to normalizing ties with Israel, the country may have issues with Arab Gulf states and other Arab countries that have signed peace treaties with Israel, Sadiq noted.
Algeria, possibly along with Egypt, also supports the restoration of Syria’s membership in the Arab League despite reservations from several Arab countries, which will be a contentious issue at the upcoming Arab summit, he added.
According to Sadiq, the region is facing threats that require a clear and quick response, and therefore joint efforts between Egypt, Algeria and other concerned countries will be important.
Meanwhile, Egypt and Algeria share similar concerns about Libya’s security, and both countries continue to provide support for Libya’s political path, which will be completed by holding parliamentary and presidential elections, Sadiq told Xinhua.
Egypt and Algeria support peaceful and political solutions to many Arab concerns, as well as the rejection of any threat to Arab national security, he said.
