Egypt foreign minister to tour Gulf in push for political solution

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry will embark on a Gulf tour to push for a political solution as tensions rise between Saudi Arabia, Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, his ministry said Saturday.
Shoukry, whose government is closely allied with Saudi Arabia, will carry a message from President Abdel Fattah El-Sissi to the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman as well as Jordan during his three-day visit starting Sunday, it said in a statement.
Shoukry “will affirm Egypt’s firm position on the need to preserve Arab unity,” the ministry statement said.
He will also “affirm Egypt’s policy... that pushes for political solutions to crises and the need to spare the region any more turmoil and polarization.”
Egypt, which has the most powerful Arab army and has depended on Saudi Arabia for aid, has supported the Gulf country against its regional arch-rival, Iran.
But it has displayed little enthusiasm for a Saudi-led coalition’s war in Yemen against Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
Cairo has backed the coalition with only a few naval vessels after having pledged to send ground troops if needed.
Sissi told a press conference on Thursday that Egypt fully supported Gulf countries, whose security he called a “red line.”
But he also urged caution. “I am not for war. We have had our experience with war,” he said.
“The region faces enough turmoil already. We should approach (the tensions) extremely cautiously,” he added.

Source:Arabnews