President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi visits Djibouti

SANAA, May 28 (YPA) – Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi arrived in Djibouti on Thursday, the most important African country bordering Bab al-Mandab strait, for the first time, Alkhabar Al-Yemeni website reported.

The visit is an Egyptian response to the UAE-Saudi efforts to dominate the Red Sea, which is important to Egypt.

Al-Sisi said,  at a press conference with his Djiboutian counterpart,  that the meeting discussed economic and military files, most notably security in the Red Sea,

He noted  that his country is seeking to strengthen its relationship with Djibouti on various files.

Although al-Sisi’s visit comes at a crucial time in the African region,  as tension swells over the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam  and the blocked horizon of a solution between the countries of the source and Ethiopia.

The timing of the choosing to visit Djibouti indicate that it is in response to the US’s reports that the UAE has begun to develop a base on the Yemeni island of Mayon near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which Djibouti overlooks from the other side.

Egypt fears that the UAE movement will now strengthen Israel’s role in the Strait, which is a lifeline for the Suez Canal, especially in light of Israeli efforts to build a larger canal  in order to disrupt navigation there with the complicity of gulf states.

E.M