Sisi: Sudan’s Security Part of Egypt’s Security

A handout picture released by the Egyptian Presidency on July 20, 2018 shows President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (C) shaking hands with Sudanese officials while being escorted by his Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Bashir (L) before the former's departure from Khartoum International Airport.  Egyptian Presidency / AFP
A handout picture released by the Egyptian Presidency on July 20, 2018 shows President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (C) shaking hands with Sudanese officials while being escorted by his Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Bashir (L) before the former's departure from Khartoum International Airport. Egyptian Presidency / AFP
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Sisi: Sudan’s Security Part of Egypt’s Security

A handout picture released by the Egyptian Presidency on July 20, 2018 shows President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (C) shaking hands with Sudanese officials while being escorted by his Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Bashir (L) before the former's departure from Khartoum International Airport.  Egyptian Presidency / AFP
A handout picture released by the Egyptian Presidency on July 20, 2018 shows President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (C) shaking hands with Sudanese officials while being escorted by his Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Bashir (L) before the former's departure from Khartoum International Airport. Egyptian Presidency / AFP

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ended on Friday his two-day visit to Khartoum during which he discussed with his Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Bashir bilateral ties.

A joint statement issued following the summit held at the presidential palace in Khartoum said on Friday that “Sisi and Bashir expressed their full support for consolidating the principles of integration between the two countries.”

The statement stressed that both presidents agreed on activating bilateral relations and to follow-up on the implementation of the signed agreements and memorandum of understandings.

The two leaders also expressed their great interest in the security of the Red Sea and the need to continuously coordinate the protection of their interests and the prevention of any foreign interference.

Sisi's spokesman Ambassador Bassam Radi said the Egyptian President welcomed the results of his talks with Bashir, praising the spirit of constructive cooperation between the two countries and the keenness of the two leaderships to strengthen bilateral relations and consolidate historic ties.

“During his meeting with Sudanese leaders, political parties, intellectuals and media figures, Sisi stressed Egypt’s keenness on the stability of Sudan, asserting that Sudan’s security is part of Egypt’s national security,” the Ambassador said.

On Friday morning, the Egyptian President and Sudanese Prime Minister Bakri Hassan Saleh discussed the latest developments in bilateral relations.

The trip was the first since the Egyptian President started his second term last June.

“The successive visits of the Egyptian and Sudanese officials between the two countries assert how the Egyptian and Sudanese leaderships are keen to push bilateral relations forward,” Sisi said before returning to Cairo on Friday evening.



Lebanon’s President Reveals the Country’s Stance on Relations with Israel

 Lebanese President Joseph Aoun looks on during a meeting with Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides at the Presidential Palace in the capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP)
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun looks on during a meeting with Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides at the Presidential Palace in the capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP)
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Lebanon’s President Reveals the Country’s Stance on Relations with Israel

 Lebanese President Joseph Aoun looks on during a meeting with Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides at the Presidential Palace in the capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP)
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun looks on during a meeting with Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides at the Presidential Palace in the capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP)

Lebanon has no plans to have normal relations with Israel at the present time, and Beirut’s main aim is to reach a “state of no war” with its southern neighbor, the country’s president said Friday.

President Joseph Aoun’s comments came as the Trump administration is trying to expand the Abraham Accords signed in 2020 in which Israel signed historic pacts with United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

In May, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said during a visit to France that his country is holding indirect talks with Israel to prevent military activities along their border from going out of control. Talks about peace between Israel and Syria have increased following the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad from power in December.

Aoun added in comments released by his office that only the Lebanese state will have weapons in the future, and the decision on whether Lebanon would go to war or not would be for the Lebanese government.

Aoun’s comments were an apparent reference to the armed Hezbollah group that fought a 14-month war with Israel, during which it suffered major blows including the killing of some of its top political and military commanders.

Hezbollah says it has ended its armed presence near the border with Israel, but is refusing to disarm in the rest of Lebanon before Israel withdraws from five overlooking border points and ends its almost daily airstrikes on Lebanon.

Earlier this week, US envoy Tom Barrack met with Lebanese leaders in Beirut, saying he was satisfied with the Lebanese government’s response to a proposal to disarm Hezbollah.

Hezbollah’s weapons have been one of the principal sticking points since Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000. Since then, Hezbollah fought two wars with Israel, one in 2006, and the other starting a day after the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which triggered the war in Gaza.

The Hezbollah-Israel war, which ended with a US-brokered ceasefire in November, left more than 4,000 people dead in Lebanon and caused destruction estimated at $11 billion. In Israel, 127 people, including 80 soldiers, were killed during the war.

“Peace is the state of no war and this is what is important for us in Lebanon at the present time,” Aoun was quoted as telling visitors on Friday. He added that “the matter of normalization (with Israel) is not included in Lebanon’s current foreign policy.”

Lebanon and Israel have been at a state of war since 1948.