Egypt’s Sisi Urges Calm, Says «Time Not Right to Challenge Hezbollah»

Local Editor

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called on Middle Eastern nations to maintain stability just as tensions were suddenly spiking between Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.

"The stability of the region is very important and we all have to protect it ... I am talking to all the parties in the region to preserve it," Sisi said in an interview with CNBC over the weekend that aired Tuesday morning.

When asked whether it was time to challenge Hezbollah, Sisi said: "It's not about taking on or not taking on, it's about the status of the fragile stability in the region in light of the unrest."

"The region cannot support more turmoil," he said.

Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman over the weekend launched a broad roundup of fellow royals and government officials in what they have termed a crackdown on corruption. Analysts who follow Saudi Arabia closely had characterized those arrests as a consolidation of power around Bin Salman.

Among those taken into custody is Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, a billionaire investor and prominent figure in Western media.

Egypt's al-Sisi told CNBC that countries such as Syria, Iraq, Libya, Yemen and Somalia would all be vulnerable to an escalation of turmoil, and therefore Cairo would not look to impose any measures against Hezbollah.

The Egyptian president's remarks come as Saudi Arabia said that Lebanon had declared war against the kingdom.

"We will treat the government of Lebanon as a government declaring war on Saudi Arabia due to the aggression of Hezbollah," Saudi Gulf affairs minister Thamer al-Sabhan told Al Arabiya TV on Monday.

Relations between Cairo and Riyadh - traditional allies - have warmed recently following a notable downturn last year when Saudi Arabia abruptly suspended oil aid to Egypt just days after Cairo backed a UN Security Council resolution on Syria drafted by Russia.

Egypt is a key member of the Saudi-led bloc that in June severed diplomatic and economic ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting "terrorists" and being too close to Iran.

However, Egypt has been reluctant to contribute militarily to the Saudi-led coalition in the war in Yemen and take sides in the war in Syria.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team