Sisi in Beijing to Attend 'Belt and Road Forum'

China’s President Xi Jinping (R) and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (C) walk during a welcoming ceremony in Beijing, on September 1. (AFP)
China’s President Xi Jinping (R) and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (C) walk during a welcoming ceremony in Beijing, on September 1. (AFP)
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Sisi in Beijing to Attend 'Belt and Road Forum'

China’s President Xi Jinping (R) and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (C) walk during a welcoming ceremony in Beijing, on September 1. (AFP)
China’s President Xi Jinping (R) and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (C) walk during a welcoming ceremony in Beijing, on September 1. (AFP)

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has started an official visit to the Chinese capital to attend the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, which is held on April 25-27, with the participation of 37 heads of state and government.

Ambassador Bassam Radi, spokesman for the Egyptian presidency, said that Sisi’s participation in the summit “comes within the framework of Egypt’s keenness to participate in the Belt and Road initiative, as one of the pivotal partners of China, in light of the strategic importance of the Suez Canal, the key maritime corridor of world trade.”

Sisi’s visit to China is the sixth since he took office in 2014. According to a statement issued by Radi, the president will hold a summit with his Chinese counterpart to discuss ways to strengthen strategic partnership.

The Egyptian president is also scheduled to hold meetings with a number of officials and the Chinese business community to discuss ways of boosting economic, trade and investment cooperation between the two sides.

On the sidelines of the summit, the president will meet with a number of heads of state and government to discuss ways of boosting bilateral cooperation on various regional and international issues.



Iran FM to Visit Syria, Türkiye as Tehran, Moscow Back Damascus Regime against Opposition Advances

 Opposition fighters step on a picture of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo, Syria, late Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP)
Opposition fighters step on a picture of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo, Syria, late Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP)
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Iran FM to Visit Syria, Türkiye as Tehran, Moscow Back Damascus Regime against Opposition Advances

 Opposition fighters step on a picture of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo, Syria, late Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP)
Opposition fighters step on a picture of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo, Syria, late Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP)

Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araqchi will visit Damascus on Sunday, before visiting Türkiye as part of a regional tour, foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told state media on Saturday.

Earlier, Araqchi and his Russian counterpart voiced support for Syria on during a major attack by opposition groups, Iranian state media reported.  

Araqchi told Russia's Sergei Lavrov in a phone call that the attacks were part of an Israeli-US plan to destabilize the region, state media said.  

According to a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry about the call, both sides "expressed extreme concern about the dangerous escalation of the situation in Syria due to the terrorist offensive by armed groups in the Aleppo and Idlib provinces".  

The ministers agreed on the need to intensify joint efforts aimed at stabilizing the situation in Syria.  

Iran's foreign ministry also condemned what it called "aggression by terrorist elements" against its consulate in Syria's city of Aleppo during the current opposition advances, Iranian state media reported.  

"The consul-general and all members of the consulate of Iran in Aleppo are in good health," spokesperson Baghaei told state media.  

Earlier on Saturday, Russia's Lavrov spoke on the matter with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan.  

For his part, Fidan spoke by phone with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Saturday to discuss the situation in Syria, Turkish Foreign Ministry sources said.  

He also spoke with Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati.