How a joke about Sisi’s fridge has strained Cairo-Riyadh ties
The careless slip of a Saudi tongue was enough to anger Egyptians and end the term of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation's secretary-general as Riyadh-Cairo relations deteriorate over regional alliances and halted oil shipments.
![EGYPT-ECONOMY/DISCONTENT Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attends during signing of agreements ceremony with Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir (unseen) at the El-Thadiya presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt October 5, 2016. Picture taken October 5, 2016. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh - RTX2Q29F](/sites/default/files/styles/article_hero_medium/public/almpics/2016/11/RTX2Q29F.jpg/RTX2Q29F.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=3dZp-tdN)
Saudi Shura Council head Abdullah Al-Sheikh’s unannounced visit to Cairo on Nov. 3 was apparently Riyadh’s positive response to Gulf mediation efforts to calm tensions between Egypt and Saudi Arabia and to keep their feud out of the media.
Al-Sheikh’s visit was less than a week after the Oct. 31 announcement that Iyad Madani, the Saudi secretary-general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), an international organization of 57 Islamic states, had submitted his resignation citing health reasons.