Sisi confers with UN chief over cooperation with the international body

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi on Sunday met with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon in the presence of the UN representative to the Middle East.
The UN chief praised the role of Egypt and its leadership in the political and economic success achieved in the past period, citing the Declaration on the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and the Egyptian Economic Development Conference (EEDC).
Presidential Spokesman Ambassador Alaa Youssef said the Palestinian issue figured high in the meeting as both sides asserted that the donors should fulfill their pledges made during Gaza reconstruction conference held in Cairo in October.
President Sisi underlined the importance of reconstructing the Gaza Strip and improving the living conditions of the displaced Palestinians.
They also reviewed the outcome of the Israeli elections and means of taking future steps towards resuming peace talks.
Sisi also underlined the importance of encouraging the Palestinians and Israelis to go on with the peace march by offering guarantees for both sides.
On the regional level, Sisi asserted that Egypt's position towards the Middle East issues mainly focused on supporting all efforts aimed at realizing security and stability in Syria, Libya and Yemen, especially in view of the complicated situation in such countries which are deeply hit by terrorism.
On Libya, President Sisi asserted that importance of working out a balanced political solution along with disarming the extremist militants, removing the embargo on providing arms to the Libyan army as well as taking into consideration the free will of the Libyan people.
In this regard, Ban Ki-Moon voiced thanks to President Sisi over his country's backing for the efforts of reaching a settlement to the Libyan crisis and rendering successful the efforts of UN special envoy to Libya Bernardino Leon.
The UN chief voiced hope that Egypt could take part in the events and conferences organized by the UN this year, especially a development conference in Addis Ababa set for July this year and the Paris Climate Change Conference set for December.
He also said the UN is currently working on devising a plan to counter the phenomenon of terrorism through a dialogue among religious leaders.
The Egyptian president asserted Egypt's full support for the UN efforts in all domains, noting that Cairo will take part in all relevant meetings.