British lawmakers end four-day visit to Egypt

A British parliamentary delegation left Cairo Saturday after a four-day visit where they met with President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and other top government officials to discuss Egyptian-British cooperation.

The UK House of Commons delegation, headed by MP Gerald Howarth, paid a brief visit to the Red Sea resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh on Thursday to pave the way for the resumption of British flights to the city in the coming period.

The British government was among several foreign governments who suspended flights to Sharm El-Sheikh last year after a Russian passenger jet crashed in central Sinai in October 2015, killing all 224people on board. The crash was claimed by the Egyptian affiliate of the Islamic State militant group.

A delegation of British aviation experts visited Cairo International Airport earlier this month for security inspections and are expected to issue a report on security procedures.

Egypt’s struggling tourism industry, a critical source of hard currency, was dealt blow by the ban on flights.

Source: Ahram Online