Renad Ghanem

Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — Many Egyptians were sad over the death of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah.



For many Egyptians, King Abdullah meant a lot to them because of his historical stand with Egypt and his continuous support for the country’s people.



Many Egyptians on Twitter were consoling each other and shared their Saudi counterparts’ pain. They even changed their Twitter avatars to pictures of the late King.



Egyptians call King Abdullah the “King of Humanity”.



King Abdullah was seen as a strong and wise Arab leader and an Islamic heavyweight leader by many in Egypt. Many Egyptian expatriates in the Kingdom said that they would never forget his stand with Egypt when their country was going through a very difficult time, especially during the June 30 revolution.



Saudi Gazette interviewed a number of Egyptians here and in Egypt.



Nouran Makram, who lives in Cairo, said: “Egyptians believe that the relationship between Egypt and the Kingdom is like a golden thread.



“King Abdullah was the first to extend a hand of support to Egypt during its most difficult times and events. That forced the world to accept our second revolution.



“He supported Egypt a lot whether morally or financially.”



Many Egyptians regarded King Abdullah as a wise and strong man during this difficult era.



Makram added: “He supported all the Arab and Muslim countries.



“All Saudis love King Abdullah and I have seen how sad they were when he died.



“The whole nation mourned his death and many Egyptians were sad over his death.



“We considered him a source of safety.



“Yes we have a strong president now in Egypt, but it’s all because of the King’s support that we are now here and the entire world is sad to lose him.



“The Islamic and Arab world is going to miss him.”



Mohammed Omar, an Egyptian who was living in Saudi before moving to Cairo, said: “I was living in Jeddah and I left for Egypt in 2003 and I came back again for Umrah in 2012. “It was during the King Abdullah era and I noticed huge changes in the country.



“There was a lot of improvement and development and the country became very beautiful.



“Makkah witnessed massive and good changes that all benefit pilgrims and visitors of the Two Holy Mosques.



“His death is a big loss to Saudi Arabia but I’m sure that Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman will complete the path of development.”



Mohamed Elfiky, an Egyptian expatriate who lives in Jeddah, said: “Most of my friends on social media changed their profile pictures to King Abdullah when they found out about his death.



“To us, King Abdullah was a great man who stood by Egypt in a time of need.



“He supported Egypt financially.



“Egypt will never forget him.



“It is very hard to find a great man like him.”



Nahla Awad, an Egyptian sales executive who lives in Cairo, said: “The King of Humanity.



“That’s the phrase I heard of most of my Egyptian friends say.



“King Abdullah has a lot of respect and appreciation from Egyptians. I will never forget when I saw the picture of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi kissing King Abdullah’s forehead.



“That means we appreciate all what he did for Egypt.