The UK Chief of Defence Staff’s Senior Advisor to the Middle East and North Africa (DSAME), Air Marshal Martin (Sammy) Sampson, concluded an official visit to Egypt this past week.

Fruitful discussions took place on reinforcing bilateral military partnership, including joint training and exercises, said Sampso.

During the visit, Sampson held high-level meetings with senior officials from Egypt’s Armed Forces. He was accompanied by the UK’s Defence Attaché to Egypt Captain (Royal Navy) Stephen Deacon, Daily News Egypt reported.

Sampson met with the Commander of Egypt’s Air Forces, Air Marshal Mohamed Abbas, to discuss ways of enhancing bilateral cooperation between the British and Egyptian Air Forces.

He also convened meetings with Egypt’s Chief of the Training Authority and Chief of the Armament Authority, to discuss topics of common interest. During the meetings, the two sides explored ways to deepen the future training and defence procurement engagements.

At the end of his visit, Sampson said: “I am delighted to be back in Egypt and to meet senior officials from the Egyptian Armed Forces.”

“We have had very fruitful discussions about ways to reinforce our bilateral military partnership, including joint training and exercises, as well as operational coordination to counter terrorism and promote our common security interests in the region and our shared prosperity agendas,” he added.

British Ambassador to Egypt Sir Geoffrey Adams said: “Air Marshal Sampson’s visit shows our continued commitment to working with Egypt to strengthen our defence relations: from defence procurement, to training, to sharing expertise.

“Earlier this year, the UK published a new defence strategy, alongside our Integrated Review of foreign, defence, and security policy, and that strategy makes clear the importance of partnership to our collective security and military capacity,” Adams added.

The Ambassador also noted that the UK is committed to working with Egypt in the interests of both countries’ security, and that his country looks forward to further cooperation in future.