On Friday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi began a visit to Malaysia, the second stop of his Asian tour after South Korea, followed by Indonesia as a third stop in order to “advance relations and enhance political and economic cooperation.”
Al-Sisi arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Friday, where he was received by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Defense Minister Mohamed Khaled Noordin, and a number of Malaysian officials.
On Friday, President Sisi left the Korean capital, Seoul, heading to Kuala Lumpur, where at the conclusion of his visit to Seoul, he held talks with his Korean counterpart, Lee Jae-myung, and they agreed to “raise bilateral relations to the level of strategic partnership.”
The Malaysian news agency Bernama, citing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reported on Friday that “Malaysia and Egypt established diplomatic relations between them in 1959, and since then the two countries have maintained friendly and distinguished relations, supported by close cooperation at the bilateral and multilateral levels.”
The agency reported that “the Egyptian President’s visit is expected to contribute to strengthening the historical partnership between the two countries and raising the level of bilateral relations to a strategic partnership.”
During talks with the Malaysian Prime Minister in Cairo in November 2024, President Sisi agreed to “advance bilateral relations as an incentive to ensure further progress and development for both countries,” as well as “further strengthen political relations by increasing the frequency of exchange of high-level visits between the two countries.”
The Secretary-General of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Ali Al-Hafni, believes that “President Sisi’s visit to Malaysia is an impetus for relations and an enhancement of the path of cooperation, whether politically or economically.”
He told Asharq Al-Awsat: “The Egyptian President made more than one tour to East Asia and Southeast Asia, and his visit was the first to Malaysia, and before that to South Korea, then Indonesia. This indicates relations with Asian countries and enhances bilateral cooperation, especially since Malaysia has experience in the field of development. There is a lot that Egypt can benefit from.”
Al-Hafni points out, “During the visit, the President was keen to meet with officials in the economic and investment sectors, as well as businessmen, in order to present the priorities of the Egyptian development agenda and investment incentives, which stimulates cooperation relations with Malaysia, especially in the economic, trade and investment fields.”
The Malaysian Foreign Ministry indicated, according to what was reported by the official Middle East News Agency in Egypt, on Friday, that “Egypt ranked seventh among Malaysia’s largest trading partners on the African continent during the year 2025.”
She explained that “the total volume of trade exchange between the two countries reached 3.08 billion Malaysian ringgit, equivalent to 720 million US dollars.” She continued: “Malaysian exports to Egypt recorded 2.55 billion ringgit, equivalent to 600 million dollars, while imports from Egypt amounted to 530 million ringgit, equivalent to 120 million dollars.”
Al-Hafni confirms that “Egypt is proud of its Asian relations, which are ancient relations, and the cultural aspect of them represents great importance, especially since there are large numbers of students from Southeast Asian countries studying in Egypt.”
He also points out, “There is an interest regarding Egypt’s foreign policy in communicating with leaders and senior officials on the Asian continent, because consultation regarding regional and international situations is an issue that Cairo is keen on, and it is interested in exchanging views and listening to the assessments of these countries regarding various issues, and coordination in confronting regional and international challenges.”
During a phone call with the Malaysian Prime Minister, in February 2025, President Sisi stressed “the necessity of intensifying international efforts to establish a Palestinian state on the lines of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital, as this is the only guarantee for achieving permanent peace in the region.”
According to the Egyptian Information Service, the Asian tour aims to “advance bilateral relations and enhance political, economic and investment cooperation between Egypt and the three countries.”
The Authority stated, on Thursday, that the successive presidential visits to Asian countries reflect “Egypt’s keenness to diversify its external circles and strengthen its relations with rising economic and political powers, thus providing broader opportunities to attract investments and increase trade exchange and cooperation in the fields of technology, energy, transportation and education.”
Lieutenant General Saddam Haftar, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Libyan National Army, considered that completing the unification of the country’s police institutions “represents an urgent national necessity, requiring serious work and practical steps that strengthen the unity of the police institution and the integration of its efforts, and ensure that it fulfills its responsibilities in serving citizens.”
Saddam Haftar said, coinciding with the 62nd anniversary of the founding and unification of the police institution in Libya, on Thursday, that “the General Command’s continued support for the police institution comes within the framework of a national vision to modernize security institutions, develop their capabilities, improve the efficiency of their cadres, and employ modern technologies in performing their tasks.”
The Libyan police were unified on October 8, 1964, through a royal decree merging the security services in the three regions of Libya (Cyrenaica, Fezzan, and Tripoli) under one national leadership.
Saddam stressed “the importance of giving members of police institutions the care and attention they deserve, improving their job and living conditions, raising the level of their salaries and financial benefits, commensurate with the nature of their tasks and the gravity of their responsibilities, and actually implementing the provisions of the law regulating their affairs and rights, in a way that enhances their readiness and effectiveness.”
Saddam recalled “the nation’s martyrs, members of the police, who gave their lives in sacrifice for the security of their country and the safety of its people,” and said that “their sacrifices will remain a source of pride and honor, and their memory is immortal in the conscience of the nation, and their families and loved ones have sincere appreciation and gratitude.”
Saddam had met with members of the Reconnaissance and Special Operations Battalion of “Major General Tariq bin Ziyad Al-Muazzaz,” after completing advanced training courses in a number of countries, which lasted 14 months. In this context, he said that the training and qualification they received “represents an important addition to them and the armed forces, and enhances their readiness to carry out the tasks assigned to them efficiently and competently,” stressing “the necessity of continuing to make more efforts and maintaining this level of readiness and discipline.”
In the capital, Tripoli, the Ministry of the Interior of the Interim Government of National Unity held a celebration on the occasion of the anniversary. Minister Imad Trabelsi said that commemorating this occasion comes “in commemoration of the march of the police institution and its unification in the three regions of Libya, and in appreciation of the giving of its pioneers and retirees,” noting that “the development achieved in the Ministry of Interior came as a result of teamwork and the solidarity of its various components.”
He stressed "redoubling efforts to combat smuggling and irregular migration, rejecting any form of resettlement of immigrants, and continuing to confront with all determination anyone who harms the security of the state, the safety of citizens, and the capabilities of the nation."
The celebration witnessed the honoring of a number of police retirees, pioneers of the institution, pillars of security training and rehabilitation, and professors and doctors who contributed to teaching the students of the Police Officers College, in appreciation of their giving and their role in building and qualifying generations of policemen.
Coinciding with this anniversary, the United Nations Support Mission in Libya facilitated the meeting of the Joint Technical Coordination Team for Border Security, which was hosted by the Ministry of the Interior of the “Unity” government, with the participation of 45 military and security officers from various parts of Libya, along with a number of employees of the “joint centers” for communication and information exchange in Tripoli and Benghazi.
The UN mission said, on Thursday evening, that this meeting “constitutes an additional important step towards strengthening cooperation between eastern and western Libya in the field of border security,” highlighting that the participants reviewed “the progress made towards activating the two joint centers, and agreed to implement joint field missions to secure the borders.”
The meeting came after organizing a specialized training course in Tripoli during the period from 4 to 7 October, targeting employees of the two joint centers, and dealing with communications security and reporting. The course was organized in light of the commitments made by the Army Chiefs of Staff to activate the two joint centers and enhance their ability to perform their tasks.
Representatives of military and security bodies from all over Libya had previously agreed, on October 28, 2025, to allocate a location for the Joint Center for Border Security and Information Exchange in Benghazi, as a step towards unifying Libyan security institutions.
The opening of the center was then supervised by the joint technical coordination team, which was selected with the assistance of the UN mission in January 2025.
The coordination team had established a similar information-sharing center in Tripoli in April 2025. The two centers are supposed to work together to enable information exchange and support unified responses to challenges related to border security.
The Joint Technical Coordination Team is the first body that brings together senior military and security officials, who represent the “National Unity” government and the “National Army” in Libya, to address all issues related to border security.
On Thursday, Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Sheikh Ghazouani issued orders to the government to take all administrative measures and penalties against those involved in two fires at two electricity conversion stations in the capital, Nouakchott, which led to a power outage for days. Prime Minister Mokhtar Ould Ajay said, in a press statement after the meeting of the investigation committee into the two fires with the President of the Republic and handing over the results of the investigation into them, that President Ghazouani obligated the government to take all administrative measures according to the schedule of responsibilities contained in the committee’s report, especially the responsibilities resulting from administrative errors or unintentional negligence. Ould Ajay explained that the President obligated them to take legal procedures and follow-ups to protect the public interest, punish every act suspected of violating the applicable laws and regulations, and take all necessary measures to comprehensively and accurately implement the recommendations of the investigation committee in all their aspects, adding that President Ghazouani obligated the government to take measures to rehabilitate the two stations, repair all the damage resulting from the two fires, in addition to taking all preventive measures to avoid similar incidents. The burning of two electrical transmission stations last August plunged the Mauritanian capital into darkness, and many basic services in hospitals and service centers stopped.
The Mauritanian president also ordered his government to “comprehensively and accurately implement” the recommendations of the independent investigation committee into the fires at the two electrical transmission stations in Nouakchott, and to place its report “with full transparency at the disposal of public opinion.”
The committee concluded that accumulated imbalances for which several parties are responsible, from the Ministry of Energy and Oil to the Mauritanian Electricity Company (Somalik), all the way to the implementing company and the consulting office, were the reason behind the fire that plunged the capital, Nouakchott, into darkness for several days last August.
Al-Ghazouani received the report, on Thursday, from the head of the committee, former Minister Othman Mamoudou Kan, and what it stated was that the size of the economic losses was estimated at about 0.07 percent of the gross domestic product for the third quarter. In addition, more than 4.4 billion old ounces are added, which is equivalent to 11 million US dollars.
The head of the investigation committee said, in a statement during a meeting with a ministerial committee after the report was delivered to the president, that the implementing company changed the contracted cable without submitting the required “type tests.” He added: “We do not say that the fire was caused by the cable, but the extended cable is unknown.” He explained that the links were placed under the load “despite the opinion of the consulting office... because the pressure was there.”
The list of responsibilities in the report recorded that the Minister of Energy was “deficient” in following up and monitoring the agreement, and blamed the former Director General of “Somalik” for launching the project “without prior technical studies” and “unjustified award decisions.” It was also recorded that the current director “does not apply late fines.”
Moreover, the report held the deal committees responsible for assigning the deal, amounting to 124 million ouguiyas, to the “Stim Construction” company, even though it was “an unqualified bidder.” In its presentation, the company used a good implementation document that was not ratified by the party to which it was attributed, which is the National Company for Industry and Mines (SNIM). It also delivered a “cable that did not comply with the contract.”
The advisory office, which had a deal worth 45 million ouguiyas, took the report into account, twice the presence of the head of its mission. He was also criticized for agreeing to work “despite the reservations that were reported.”
The committee recommended suspending payments, proceeding with the cancellation of the deal, and referring the “challenged authenticity” certificate to the judiciary. It also revealed gaps in safety and intervention. She said that during the first fire, “Somlak” called the governor instead of the firefighters, and that she had put fire extinguishers “but there was no one next to her.”
Among the 14 corrective measures recommended by the committee are ensuring a permanent human presence at the stations, and concluding an intervention protocol with civil protection. It also recommended external technical assistance to restructure “Somlak” and clarify its financial relationship with the state.
For its part, the Ministry of Energy and Oil announced that Minister Mohamed Ould Khaled kept the relevant teams “in permanent session” to prepare an implementation plan for the recommendations. The Ministry affirmed its commitment to implementing it “with full rigor and transparency.”
The project to which the fire is linked falls within an emergency program to which the government allocated in November 2024 about 1.77 billion new ouguiya, to rehabilitate the electricity network in the capital. However, the report warned that investments in increasing production capabilities were not accompanied by a similar strengthening of new infrastructure management capabilities.
