Saudi Arabia’s Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant-General Fayyad bin Hamed Al-Ruwaili, arrived Tuesday in Nicosia.

This visit came in response to the invitation by the Chief of Staff of the Cypriot National Guard and the Armed Forces.

At the outset of the visit, Al-Ruwaili held Wednesday a meeting with President of the Republic of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades at the Presidential Palace (photo), the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

During the meeting, Al-Ruwaili conveyed the greetings of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Supreme Commander of all military forces, and HRH the Crown Prince to the Cypriot President and the government and people of the Republic of Cyprus.

For his part, the President of Cyprus expressed his appreciation to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, HRH the Crown Prince and the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, stressing the strength of relations between the two countries. He affirmed that this visit is an important step for developing military cooperation between the two countries.

After that, Al-Ruwaili visited the headquarters of the Cyprus National Guard.

During the visit, the Chief of the General Staff met with Chief-of-Staff of the Cypriot National Guard and Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Dimokritos Zervakis. They reviewed military cooperation between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Cyprus as well as a number of issues of common interest.

Then, the Cypriot Ministry of Defense held a luncheon, in honor of Al-Ruwaili and the accompanying delegation, in the presence of Cypriot Defense Minister Charalambos Petrides.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant-General Fayyad bin Hamed Al-Ruwaili also met with Adviser of the Cypriot National Security Dr. Kyriacos P. Kouros. During the meeting, they discussed a number of issues of common interest.

At the end of the visit, Al-Ruwaili affirmed the importance of the military relations between the two friendly countries and the joint military and defense cooperation.