Egypt's Sisi To Embark On 1St European Tour

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi will visit Italy and France this week in his first European tour since he took office earlier this year.



Al-Sisi's four-day tour will begin on Monday and will tackle economic cooperation and counterterrorism issues, the Egyptian presidency said on Sunday.



Al-Sisi will meet with his Italian and French counterparts and will invite them to attend Egypt's upcoming economic summit which will take place in the coastal Sharm al-Sheikh city in March 2015, according to presidential spokesman Alaa Youssef.



"[Al-Sisi's] tour's agenda also includes regional issues of mutual interests such as the situation in Libya…the [Palestinian-Israeli] peace process, and the Horn of Africa," Youssef said in a statement.



He added that talks will also tackle efforts in combatting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militant group.



Al-Sisi will also meet the Catholic Church's Pope Francis in the Vatican City, in the first meeting of its kind by an Egyptian president in eight years, according to Youssef.



The meeting will tackle "enhancing dialogue" between the Catholic Church and Egypt's Al-Azhar, the world's highest seat of Sunni Islamic learning.



Al-Sisi will be accompanied by a group of ministers including Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Industrial Minister Mounir Abdel-Nour, Investment Minister Ashraf Salman and Supply Minister Khaled Hanafi.



The tour will be the first to Europe for al-Sisi - the former army general - since he won a presidential election in May, less than a year after he played a key role in overthrowing elected president and Islamist leader Mohamed Morsi following opposition protests.



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