New leaders in Egypt and Tunisia pledge warmer relations
CAIRO, EGYPT – The presidents of Egypt and Tunisia pledged Friday to open a new chapter in relations following uprisings that overthrew long-time rulers, replacing them with a Muslim Brotherhood figure and an activist who was exiled.
After meeting with Egypt’s new Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in Cairo, Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki told reporters the two nations will rebuild ties based on “shared experiences.”
“I will not say we are starting from scratch, but one thing for sure is that we are moving ahead with relations that for years and years were stagnant and routine without friendliness or warmth,” Marzouki said.
“A new era of relations has begun between the two nations,” echoed Morsi.
Success of the uprisings in the two North African nations inspired similar pro-democracy revolts in Libya, Yemen, Syria and other countries.
Marzouki said the two leaders specifically discussed the Syrian uprising and their support for the Syrian people, but that both oppose foreign military intervention.
Morsi’s meeting with the Tunisian president comes a day after he returned to Egypt from Saudi Arabia on his first visit abroad since assuming the presidency last month.
Upon his arrival Wednesday to Saudi Arabia for the two-day visit, Morsi was greeted at the airport by Crown Prince Salman bin AbdulAziz, who is also defence minister and prime minister.
He then met King Abdullah, security officials and the governor of Medina while performing a small Islamic pilgrimage with his wife, according to official news reports from both Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Morsi’s predecessor Hosni Mubarak had forged close ties with the Saudis during his 29-year rule, and media reports have described them as unhappy with the arrest and trial of a friend and ally and that they’d offered him asylum. Saudi officials have consistently denied these reports.
“I spoke with the leader of Saudi Arabia about stability, brotherly relations and lasting communication and love,” Morsi said in remarks carried by the official Saudi Press Agency after meeting the king.
SPA reported that in his meetings with King Abdullah, Morsi stressed the importance of the Gulf region’s stability, saying it is tied to Egypt’s own. Many observers saw the comment as a veiled reference to the tension between the oil-rich states and Iran.
Meanwhile, a few thousand Egyptians rallied in Cairo on Friday in support of Morsi’s decision to reconvene the Islamist-dominated parliament despite a militarybacked court ruling that dissolved the body.
Morsi had issued a decree earlier this week calling parliament into session despite a June 14 ruling by the country’s Supreme constitutional Court that the legislature was invalid because a third of its members were elected illegally.
The parliament, which convened for just five minutes Tuesday, met to find a way to examine the court’s ruling, Brotherhood parliament speaker Saad el-Katatni said. The Supreme constitutional Court immediately ruled to halt the decree, saying the assembly remains dissolved.
The demonstrators in Tahrir on Friday denounced the high court and the country’s military council, which holds legislative powers in the absence of parliament.