(Left) Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud holds hands with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi before leaving Cairo international airport yesterday. (Right) Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomes King Salman upon his arrival at Esenboga airport in Ankara yesterday. - AFP

CAIRO/ANKARA: Saudi King Salman yesterday wrapped up a landmark five-day visit to Egypt marked by lavish praise and multi-billion-dollar investment deals, in a clear sign of support for President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi's regime. The monarch's visit came as Riyadh aims to shore up ties with Cairo as it engages in several conflicts in the Middle East and competes with Iran for regional supremacy.

The visit also highlights Saudi Arabia's firm support for Egypt's fight against the jihadist Islamic State group, which has spearheaded a brutal insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula since the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013. "The other mission that we should work on together is the fight against extremism and the fight against terrorism," King Salman said on Sunday in an address to the Egyptian parliament. Yesterday, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Cairo University. In its citation, Cairo University said Salman was a "global and pivotal figure with massive influence in the Arab and International arenas" and praised his support for Egypt and the university.

He later flew to Turkey where he was met by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The visit aims at tightening increasingly close ties between the two overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim allies, receiving a lavish welcome that underlined the strength of relations. The king was welcomed at Ankara airport by a delegation personally led by Erdogan, in an unusual break from protocol and showing the importance Turkey attaches to the visit.

Over the past five days, King Salman and Sisi signed a slew of multi-billion-dollar investment deals that included a plan to build a bridge over the Red Sea connecting Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Egypt also agreed to demarcate its maritime borders with Saudi Arabia by officially placing two islands in the Straits of Tiran in Saudi territory. The agreement provoked an immediate backlash in Egypt, with thousands of Twitter users accusing Sisi of selling the islands. The islands had historically been Saudi and were "leased" to Egypt in 1950.

Analysts said Salman's visit puts to rest months of reports in Saudi and Egyptian media of strained ties between the two countries over Cairo's unwillingness to participate fully in Saudi-led operations against Iran-backed Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen. Egypt had announced it would back Saudi Arabia with ground forces if needed, but appears to have balked at sending troops for fear of becoming mired in the conflict.

"The two countries realize that common interests outweigh their practical differences," said Fawaz Gerges, professor of Middle East politics at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Following Salman's visit, Egypt would now be expected to offer more vocal support for Saudi Arabia when it comes to Iran and Yemen, he said. "The Egyptians are basically going to convince the Saudis that they are in the same trench when it comes to the Saudis' existential fight with Iran, and Saudi Arabia too seems to be very committed to Egyptian national security and the Sisi administration," said Gerges.

Since he ousted Morsi in 2013, Saudi Arabia has supported former army chief Sisi. Riyadh viewed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood movement with deep suspicion. Saudi support for Cairo has helped Sisi tighten his grip on Egypt after he crushed not just the Brotherhood but also secular dissidents. Hundreds of supporters of Morsi have been killed and tens of thousands jailed in a blistering police crackdown. Hundreds more including Morsi himself have been sentenced to death or lengthy jail terms after often speedy trials that have been condemned by the United Nations and global rights groups.

Prior to Salman's visit, Riyadh had already pumped billions of dollars in aid and investment into Egypt. It has helped prop up Egypt's economy, whose tourism industry has been devastated by years of political turmoil and jihadist attacks. "Although Saudi Arabia's support is important to confront Egypt's economic crisis, what Egypt needs is more political stability and security to attract tourism and foreign direct investments," said Ibrahim El-Ghitany, a researcher at Cairo-based Regional Centre for Strategic Studies. Egypt's economy, which is heavily dependent on tourism, was dealt a body blow when IS downed a Russian airliner over the Sinai Peninsula on Oct 31. All 224 people on board, mostly Russian tourists, were killed in the attack which IS said was carried out by stowing a bomb on the aircraft.

Later in Turkey, television footage showed the king, wearing black sunglasses, serenely descending from the plane with a special escalator rather than steps before being welcomed by Erdogan. King Salman is expected to hold talks today at Erdogan's presidential palace in Ankara expected to focus on the Syrian conflict and the fight against militants. Salman will then attend the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit in Istanbul on Thursday and Friday after wrapping up talks in the Turkish capital.

Local media reported that he will stay in Ankara in a 450-sq-m hotel suite, with bulletproof windows reinforced by bomb-resistant cement. A 300-person Saudi delegation had earlier arrived in Ankara to coordinate the king's accommodation and deal with security issues, the Hurriyet newspaper said. Five hundred luxurious Mercedes, BMW and Audi cars had been hired for the king's transport in Ankara and Istanbul, it added. The king's personal belongings had all been shipped to Turkey in cargo planes.

Saudi Arabia and Turkey have forged close alliance after their relationship had been damaged by Riyadh's role in the 2013 ousting of Morsi, a close ally of Ankara. Ankara and Riyadh have cooperated closely over the five-year Syrian war. Both back rebels who are seeking to remove Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power and see his exit as essential to ending the war. In February, Saudi jets arrived at Incirlik air base in southern Turkey to join the air campaign against Islamic State jihadists. Turkey will take over the OIC's rotating presidency from Egypt at the Istanbul summit, which is seen as a new bid by Erdogan to showcase Turkey's influence in the Islamic world. -