Egypt's Shura Council Speaker Safwat el-Sherif met Tuesday 3/11/2009 with his Saudi counterpart Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohamed al-Sheikh, who is currently in Cairo on a visit at the head of a high-level parliamentary delegation.

Sherif said the visit by Saudi parliamentary delegation to Egypt embodies the depth and strength of relations between the two countries and also "embodies the distinguished brotherly ties between President Hosni Mubarak and Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques king Abdullah bin Abdel-Aziz."

He said the Saudi delegation's visit provides a chance for exchanging viewpoints on cooperation between the two countries in the various domains.

Sherif pointed out that the stances of the political leaderships in the two countries have been identical on many issues of mutual concern and means on ending the Palestinian split and drumming up support for Gaza reconstruction and resuming peace talks.

He said Egypt also saw eye to eye with Saudi Arabia on means to render the Middle East a weapons of mass destruction-free zone and on conditions in Iraq, Lebanon, Sudan and Somalia.

The lawmaker hailed efforts exerted to rehabilitate the Egyptian Shura Council premises that caught fire on August 19, 2008 and President Mubarak's resolve to restore the historical building to its old glory.

Sheikh Abdullah expressed satisfaction over his anticipated meetings with President Mubarak, Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and Grand Sheikh of al-Azhar Mohamed Sayyed Tantawi.

He said his meetings with Egyptian officials are part of efforts to cement the two countries' relations. The Saudi official invited Sherif to visit Saudi Arabia to discuss more cooperation and coordination domains between the two countries.

The Saudi speaker visited the 10th of Ramadan City on Tuesday at the head of an 18-member delegation that toured some factories in the city and met with investors and businessmen to discuss efforts to launch more joint investment projects.

Egyptian-Saudi Relations