
Egypt is in talks with France to buy two more naval corvettes, a French diplomat said Saturday, as Paris's Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian visited Cairo in an African tour.
French shipbuilder DCNS had already signed a contract estimated at one billion euros ($1.1 billion) to supply four Gowind-class corvettes to Egypt, which also became the first country to purchase French Rafale jets.
Le Drian, whose government has developed close ties with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, met the leader and his defence minister on Saturday morning.
"There is a bid for two more corvettes; the discussions are ongoing," the source told AFP after the meetings.
The talks also touched on Libya, where Egypt had conducted air strikes on Islamist militants and pushed for intervention amid a slide into chaos in the neighbouring country.
"Overall on Libya what we can say is that during the meeting we underlined our support for the mediation by Bernardino Leon," the source said, referring to the UN mediator between Libya's rival governments.
The diplomat said the ball was now in the court of formerly elected parliament the General National Congress to accept a Leon-mediated deal with the internationally recognised government in the east.
"The responsibility lies there to move forward on the unity government," he said.
Le Drian's visit to Cairo came days after Egypt took delivery of three of the 24 Rafale fighters it has bought from France in a 5.2-billion-euro deal.
Egypt bought the jets to boost its military capability in the face of an unstable Libya to the west and the threat posed by the Islamic State group in the Sinai Peninsula.
GMT 14:02 2018 Sunday ,02 December
RDIF says $2 billion will be invested in Russian economy from joint Russian-Saudi fundGMT 12:03 2018 Friday ,30 November
Canada on track to sign new free trade deal with US and MexicoGMT 07:56 2018 Wednesday ,21 November
Merkel policies in focus in final debate on draft German budgetGMT 14:11 2018 Thursday ,08 November
Greek minister, Russian ambassador discuss possible investment projectsGMT 13:42 2018 Wednesday ,07 November
PM says Russian-Chinese trade turnover may reach $200 blnGMT 11:15 2018 Wednesday ,07 November
Top U.S. diplomat visits Pakistan to discuss economic cooperationGMT 13:53 2018 Thursday ,01 November
Alrosa to sell 127 large gem-quality rough diamonds at an auction in IsraelGMT 10:59 2018 Tuesday ,30 October
Trade turnover between Russia and Japan grows by over 17% in 2018Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2025 ©
Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2025 ©
Send your comments
Your comment as a visitor