RIYADH
Egyptian interim Prime Minister Hazem al-Beblawi, currently visiting Riyadh, has hailed Saudi support for his country's interim authorities, saying the two nations represented the "fulcrum" of the Arab world.
"If the two countries manage to agree on something, it will go well; if they fail [to agree], everything will go wrong," al-Beblawi was quoted by Egypt's official MENA news agency as saying at a Riyadh press conference.
The Egyptian premier added that, during a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Salman bin Abdel-Aziz, he had invited the latter – along with King Abdullah bin Abdel-Aziz – to visit Egypt so that Cairo might voice its appreciation for recent Saudi support.
Al-Beblawi arrived in the kingdom on Tuesday for talks with a host of senior Saudi officials with whom he was expected to discuss means of promoting political and economic cooperation between the two countries.
Saudi Arabia was one of the first Arab capitals to welcome last July's ouster of elected Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi by Egypt's military.
Egyptian-Saudi relations were strained during Morsi's single year in office.
Since his ouster, the oil-rich kingdom has offered billions of dollars in aid to Egypt's military-installed interim authorities.
Last week, Egyptian officials said the government was expecting a fresh $5-billion aid package from Riyadh.
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