Saudi King Salman Concludes Landmark Visit to Cairo

JERUSALEM, Israel – On his first official visit to Cairo, Saudi Arabia's King Salman signed more than $24 billion in loan agreements and announced the establishment of a free trade zone in the Sinai Peninsula, Ahram Online reported.

The renewed cooperation between the two countries is the latest move by the Saudis to contain the Iranian regime. In July 2015, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Saudi Defense Minister Mohammed Bin Salman, son of the king, signed the Cairo Declaration calling for increased military cooperation.

The deals include $22 billion to finance Egypt's petroleum needs over the next five years and a $1.5 billion loan, plus a $200 million grant, to upgrade the infrastructure in the Sinai Peninsula, including transportation, housing and agricultural projects.

Another $120 million loan from the Saudi Fund for Development (SDF) will be used to upgrade the power station in west Cairo to generate an additional 650 megawatts.

Saudi and Egyptian officials also signed a memorandum of understanding for the continuing development of the Suez Canal area, including the construction of an industrial zone there.

In a speech before the Egyptian parliament on Sunday, King Salman elaborated on plans to develop a free trade zone in the Sinai Peninsula.

In other news from Egypt, a lobbying group called "Ban the Burka," in collaboration with several other national groups, including the Egyptian Feminist Union, signed a memorandum with Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail to ban the niqab in the country's state institutions.

Last year, Cairo University banned professors from wearing the full-face Islamic veil in classrooms.

Cairo University's Dr. Hoda Bodran and Dr. Gaber Nassar led the effort calling on the government to ban the niqab in 51 universities across Egypt, in part to prevent Islamic extremists from imposing their ideology on the rest of the country.

Speaking with Egypt's al-Masry al-Youm, the group's coordinator Mohamed Attia said banning the niqab in the country's public institutions is in everyone's interests.

In a statement to Al-Masry al-Youm, lobby group coordinator Mohamed Attia affirmed that the banning of the niqab in public institutions is in the interests of everyone.

"The government has an ongoing right to enforce laws to protect the lives of its citizens," Attia told the newspaper. "We will strive to oppose malicious attempts to impose control on the nation and its people. Reason and debate are the way forward," he said.