Egypt's FM to start France, UK trip Monday

Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry is scheduled Monday to start a European tour that will take him to France and the UK.

Shoukry will meet with senior officials of the two countries to discuss bilateral relations along with regional and international developments.

Spokesman for the Foreign Ministry Ahmed Abu Zaid said Shoukry would meet with his French counterpart Laurent Fabius in Paris over bilateral relations and ways of boosting them in various fields, as well as regional files, especially the Middle East peace process and proposals put forward to push it forward, as well as counter-terrorism efforts and the need to unify the international community's efforts and strengthen cooperation in this regard.

Shoukry will then head for London where he is scheduled to meet with his British counterpart Philip Hammond, National Security Adviser Kim Darroch and his deputy, Gwynne Jenkins to discuss bilateral political and economic relations and recent developments in Libya, Yemen, Iraq and Syria along with the terrorism file.

In Paris, the minister will also take part in the inauguration ceremony of the "Osiris, Sunken Mysteries of Egypt", a landmark exhibition of over 250 antiquities, that will be opened from September 8 until January 31.

The exhibition will be organized by the Arab World Institute in Paris, in cooperation with the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities.

French President Francois Hollande will inaugurate the exhibition, in the presence of Egypt's Antiquities Minister Mamdouh El Damaty and Tourism Minister Rami Khalid, while Shoukry will deliver President Abdel Fattah El Sisi's speech during the ceremony.

Source: MENA