Saudi's King Salman begins 5-day visit to Egypt

In a move to counter reports of a seeming discord between Saudi Arabia and Egypt, the King of Saudi Arabia, Salman bin Abdulaziz arrived in Cairo on Thursday for a 5-day visit.

He is expected to sign several deals and deliver a speech in parliament.

#Saudi king arrives in #Egypt, red carpet rolled out to plane | #Sisihttps://t.co/MQard3RQm1 pic.twitter.com/fwazPxFjGo

— The Cairo Post (@TheCairoPost) April 7, 2016

It is a sign that blatantly indicates that Riyadh still backs Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Gulf monarchies are slowly distancing themselves from supporting Egypt financially, but Saudi Arabia says it will maintain some aid, despite facing a tighter budget from falling global oil prices.

However, with Iraq, Syria and Yemen immersed in civil war, and Saudi Arabia preoccupied by its own region-wide tussle with Iran, Riyadh is determined to stop the Egyptian state from failing.

In recent months, groups of Egyptian ministers have flown to Riyadh almost weekly for meetings with their Saudi counterparts, a diplomat said, and officials are planning to unveil Saudi investments of $4 billion this week.

Saudi Arabia is also expected to sign a $ 20 billion deal to finance Egypt’s petroleum needs for the next five years and a $1.5 billion deal to develop its Sinai region, two Egyptian government sources told Reuters.

Reuters