Egypt opens new strategic Mediterranean naval base

MARSA MATROUH, Egypt — Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi has opened a strategic naval base on the Mediterranean Sea to “secure shipping lines,” the presidency says.

“It is the latest Egyptian military base on the Mediterranean, and will be focused on securing the country’s northern and western front,” Sissi says in a statement.

The ceremony is attended by the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan.

The base lies some 255 kilometers (160 miles) west of Alexandria, towards the border with Libya, a country in which both Egypt and the United Arab Emirates have played a key military role.

State-run newspaper Akhbar Al-Youm reports that the base includes an airstrip and a 1,000-meter (3,280-foot) long pier.

The opening coincides with the eighth anniversary of Sissi leading the military ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.