Egypt, Algeria foreign ministers meet in Cairo, discuss Tunisia crisis

Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shukry on Saturday met with his Algerian counterpart Ramtane Lamamra in Cairo.

Speaking at a joint news conference, Shukry told reporters that Egypt is closely following the political turmoil in Tunisia in the wake of its president's decision to seize exceptional powers.

President Kais Saied suspended parliament, lifted the immunity of parliament members, fired the prime minister and took control of the executive branch, arguing the need to save the country amid public anger at the government over joblessness, rising prices and one of Africa’s worst coronavirus outbreaks.

Autocratic leaders from Egypt to Saudi Arabia hope the power grab spells doom for the region’s Islamists, but they also fear a reignited Arab Spring, like the region-wide uprisings kindled by Tunisia a decade ago.

Shukry said Egypt "completely trusts" the Tunisian leadership, but called it an "internal affair."

Lamamra, meanwhile said that the dispute between Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt over the Nile dam is "passing through a critical stage."

He urged for the three nations to come to an agreement.

Egypt argues a decade of negotiations over the hydroelectric dam on the Blue Nile have failed to ensure that water will continue to flow downstream in sufficient amounts to Sudan and to Egypt, where 100 million people are dependent on the river as their sole source of water.