King insists Saudi position on Egypt has not changed

Following the embarrassing leak of a recording in which Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi apparently expressed his distaste for the Gulf States, the king of Saudi Arabia has insisted that his country’s position towards its neighbour has not changed. King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz confirmed this in a telephone conversation with Al-Sisi, local media has claimed; the monarch reassured him about the future of relations between the two countries.

“The relationship between our countries is a role model in strategic relations and common destiny,” the king is reported to have told the Egyptian president. “The distinctive and well-established relations between Saudi Arabia and Egypt are much stronger than any attempt to disturb them.”

The leaked recording revealed offensive discussions between Al-Sisi and his aides when he was defence minister prior to the coup. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar were mentioned prominently in the insulting discourse. The post-coup government in Egypt has been funded by the Gulf States at a cost of billions of dollars.