Algeria’s leader in Egypt for talks on Libya, Ethiopia dam

CAIRO (AP) — Algeria’s President Abdelmadjid Tebboune arrived in Cairo on Monday for a two-day visit focusing on bilateral ties and the turmoil in Libya, officials said.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi received Tebboune at the Cairo international airport, according to the Egyptian leader’s office.

The visit is the Algerian leader’s first to Egypt since he took office late in 2019, it said. El-Sissi visited Algeria in 2014.

The two leaders will discuss the upheaval in neighboring Libya, which failed to hold its first presidential election last month, the state-run Algeria Press Service said.

The news agency reported that Algeria-Egypt consultations will aim to support holding elections that “will preserve Libya’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

The talks will also touch on a dispute between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia over a massive dam project Ethiopia is building on the main tributary of the Nile River. Algeria has been mediating to find a solution to the yearslong dispute, the APS reported.