Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Mahmoud Hegazy heads to Saudi Arabia on Saturday along with a high-ranking military delegation.

Hegazy, who is scheduled to stay in the Saudi capital Riyadh for two days, will take part in a conference held among Islamic military coalition countries to fight terrorism.

Armed Forces spokesperson Mohamed Samir said in an official statement: “the conference will tackle several issues, including phases of military cooperation between Islamic countries in light of the recent regional security developments.”

In December 2015, Saudi Arabia announced the launch of a coalition of 34 Islamic countries to fight terrorism, including 17 Arab countries to fight “Islamic State” (IS) and tackle “the Islamic world’s problem with terrorism”.

The Saudi-led coalition, which is based in Riyadh, includes Egypt and Turkey but excludes Iran.

Egypt’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said during the launch of the coalition that it welcomes its membership in it and any form of fighting terrorism whether Islamic or Arab. However it denied that this coalition could be an alternative for forming a united Arab force against terrorism.