Al-Sisi chairs a meeting of the National Defense Council to discuss “full standing” with Saudi Arabia and providing all possible and necessary support to it

On Sunday morning, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi chaired a meeting of the National Defense Council, to discuss “full standing” with Saudi Arabia, and providing all necessary and possible forms of support to the Kingdom, in order to defend its security and stability.

The meeting, which was held at the Federal Palace in the capital, Cairo, was attended, according to a statement by the Egyptian presidential spokesman, by: the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Prime Minister, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, the Minister of Defense and Military Production, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, the Ministers of Interior, Finance, Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation, and Egyptians Abroad, the Head of General Intelligence, the leaders of the main branches of the Armed Forces, the Chairman of the Armed Forces Operations Authority, the Chairman of the Military Intelligence Authority, and the Secretary-General of the National Defense Council.

The presidential spokesman said in a statement on Facebook, “The National Defense Council reviewed the overall current regional developments, and the dangerous developments the region is witnessing, especially in light of the escalation of the unacceptable attacks against the sisterly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia...” enumerating the decisions based on that, which came as follows:

The meeting came after Sisi said, on Saturday, that “Egypt is ready to implement any measure requested by Saudi Arabia to defend its security and sovereignty,” adding: “We stand strongly to protect and defend the lands of our brothers in the Gulf.”

Al-Sisi continued: “We must acknowledge the kindness done by the brothers in the Gulf, Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, and Kuwait, and thank them for their support for Egypt after 2013,” pointing out that “the support of the brothers in the Gulf for Egypt played a vital role in restoring the capabilities of the Egyptian state.”

This comes as the Egyptian Parliament holds a meeting today, Sunday, to discuss Sisi’s request to approve granting him a mandate to provide support for the defense of Saudi Arabia.