Salam Meets with Top Egyptian Officials in Cairo

Prime Minister Tammam Salam met on Wednesday with top Egyptian officials during a one-day official visit to Cairo.

Salam held talks with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, his Egyptian counterpart Ibrahim Mahlab and the Grand Imam of al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb.

Salam is accompanied by Ministers Akram Shehayyeb, Michel Pharaon and Arthur Nazarian.

After a lunch banquet thrown in his honor, Salam will meet with Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi and then the leader of Egypt's Coptic Christian minority Pope Tawadros II.

The meetings of Salam and his accompanying delegation with the Egyptian officials are expected to focus on economic and trade ties, and the developments in the region and their repercussions on Lebanon.

Last week, Arab diplomats said that al-Sisi is expected to announce Egypt's backing for the Lebanese army.

The diplomats, who were not identified, told al-Joumhouria newspaper that Sisi could announce his country's readiness to assist the military institution through a grant.

Salam's talks with Sisi and Mahlab are also likely to focus on the fate of Egyptian arms that Cairo had promised to deliver to Lebanon during visits made by al-Mustaqbal movement leader Saad Hariri and Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq last year, they said.

The talks for Egypt to hand over the weapons to Lebanon were as part of a grant that late Saudi King Abdullah had made to help the Lebanese army and security forces confront the wave of terrorism striking the country.