‘Bad Weather’ Prevents Sisi’s Travel To Saudi King’s Funeral

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi will not be able to attend the Friday funeral of Saudi King Abdullah after bad weather grounded his helicopter from the ski resort city of  Davos, state news agency MENA reported.

El-Sisi, however, is expected to arrive at the Kingdom sometime later after he cut short his visit to Switzerland where he was attending a global economic forum.

King Abdullah died early on Friday at the age of 90 and his brother Salman became the new ruler of the Gulf kingdom.

Egyptian Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab will head a high-level delegation that will attend the funeral on Friday afternoon, presidential spokesman Alaa Youssef said.

El-Sisi’s agenda for the third day of the 21-24 World Economic Forum, where he was planned to chair a global meeting on violence and terrorism and sit with President François Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, have been cancelled.

The Egyptian president and his delegation have moved in cars to Zurich Airport heading to Cairo.

Source : Ahram online