Egypt, Saudi Arabia to mull 'major military manoeuvres'

Egypt has established a joint military council to discuss launching “major military manoeuvres” in Saudi Arabia.

Other Gulf states will also take part in the military exercises according to a joint statement issued after talks in Cairo.

The Saudi Defence Minister, 30-year-old Mohammed bin Salman al-Saud, arrived in Egyptian capital Cairo on Tuesday in his first official visit to the key North African ally since assuming his role in January 2015.

The visit came as Egypt continues to support Saudi Arabia in a three-week old military campaign in Yemen that aims to return President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi to power.

At least four Egyptian warships are known to have travelled south to the Gulf of Aden, and have been shelling the strategic port city of Aden from the sea.

Residents of Aden warned of a humanitarian disaster in the city as fighting intensified and the town was effectively cut off, with fears of dire food and water shortages leading to large numbers of civilian deaths.

The Bab al-Mandab Strait, a causeway that connects the Persian Gulf to Egypt’s Suez Canal via the Red Sea, lies just off the coast of Yemen.

Egypt has expressed fears that Houthi fighters could close the channel amid unrest that has seen Hadi flee to Riyadh from Yemen and militants take control of key state institutions.

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has said that securing the waterway is “a battle of life or death for Egypt".

Days after joining the military coalition, Sisi warned that any closure would have a negative impact on the country’s struggling economy, which is propped up by large cash injections from the Gulf and particularly Saudi Arabia.

Some 3.4 million barrels of oil are thought to pass through the strait daily and Egypt, a strong regional ally of Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, reiterated on Tuesday that the security of the Red Sea is a “red line”.

The announcement of joint Egyptian and Gulf military manoeuvres comes on the back of intense speculation surrounding the presence of Egyptian troops inside Yemen.

Local news sites have reported over the past week that up to 2,000 Egyptian ground troops are already stationed inside Yemen to support the Saudi-led airstrikes.

However, Egypt denied the reports on Tuesday, but confirmed that they are prepared to send ground forces “if necessary”.

A spokesperson for the Saudi-led campaign, dubbed Operation Decisive Storm, said he was unable to comment.