Reuters/NAN

Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman is to visit Egypt in his first public foreign trip since becoming crown prince in 2017, an Egyptian official and Cairo airport sources said on Friday.

The visit, in the coming days, comes before he travels to London on March 7 and the U.S., Riyadh’s closest Western ally, on March 19.

Bin Salman purged the Gulf Arab kingdom’s economic and political elite in a crackdown on corruption in 2017, after becoming crown prince in June.

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Riyadh counts Cairo among its Arab allies.

Egypt supports it in a war against Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen and joined a trade and diplomatic boycott of Gulf state Qatar last year.

A Saudi government spokesman did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the Egypt visit. The Egyptian official gave no further details.