Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi (R) shakes hands with Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki during their meeting in Cairo, Egypt, on June 8, 2019. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi held talks on Saturday with his Eritrean counterpart Isaias Afwerki in the capital Cairo, where they discussed further bilateral cooperation and coordination on regional and African issues, the Egyptian presidency said in a statement. (Xinhua/MENA)
CAIRO, June 8 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi held talks on Saturday with his Eritrean counterpart Isaias Afwerki in the capital Cairo, where they discussed further bilateral cooperation and coordination on regional and African issues, the Egyptian presidency said in a statement.
During the meeting, Sisi expressed Egypt's keenness on "consolidating strategic cooperation with Eritrea in various fields and establishing sustainable partnership between the two countries," Egypt's presidential spokesman Bassam Rady said.
The meeting comes while Egypt's is the current one-year president of the African Union.
The two leaders discussed "close coordination regarding the issues of the region and the continent of Africa in general, according to the Egyptian statement.
The Egyptian-Eritrean talks are held while several African states and regions are suffering conflicts, insurgencies or deteriorating security conditions, including Libya, Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Burkina Faso and the Horn of Africa.
