Egypt's Sisi heads to Ethiopia for African Union Summit

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi left here on Thursday for Ethiopia to participate in the 24th African Union Summit, official news agency MENA reported.

During his three-day visit, Sisi will hold talks with African leaders on ways of bolstering bilateral relations and coordinating efforts to serve key issues on the summit agenda.

This is the Sisi's first visit to Ethiopia, which experts believe will be crucial for strengthening the ties between the two countries.

The visit will pave the way for defusing the crisis between Egypt and Ethiopia over the constriction of the controversial Renaissance Dam established by Ethiopia, and is likely to affect Egypt's share of the River Nile water, Amani al-Tawil, head of the African department at Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, told Xinhua.

During the summit, Sisi will take the presidency of the African Commission on Climate Change from the Tanzanian president.

The summit, with participation of 40 heads of state, will be held on Friday and Saturday. Endit