Two-day visit aimed at fostering peace between the Muslim and Christian-minority community.
Egypt has seen a wave of attacks against Christians since the military overthrew President Mohamed Morsi [Thomas Coex/AFP]Egypt has seen a wave of attacks against Christians since the military overthrew President Mohamed Morsi
Pope Francis has landed in Cairo to promote "unity and fraternity" among Muslims and the embattled Christian minority that has suffered a series of attacks in the Arab world's most populous country.
The 80-year-old touched down at Cairo airport on Friday before he was ushered in a car to meet Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
"It's a journey of unity and fraternity. Less than two days but very intense," he said of the 27-hour trip before disembarking.
Amid high security, the pontiff will meet with Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the Imam of the government-run Al-Azhar mosque and an Islamic philosophy professor, before meeting with Sisi and Pope Tawadros II, the head of Egypt's Coptic Church.
Egypt has been under a state of emergency since two bombings in Coptic churches earlier this month that killed 45 people.
All of the country's churches have been placed under additional protection because of the risk of another assault timed to coincide with Francis being in the country.
The most recent attacks have been claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group, which has warned of further attacks against Egypt's Coptic Christians and on the Vatican.
Armoured cars have been stationed in front of the presidential palace and security men have been posted every hundred yards along a 20km stretch between the airport and central Cairo.
The Pope is then due to give a speech as a "simple participant" in an international conference before meeting Coptic Pope Tawadros II.
Egypt's Copts, who make up about 10 percent of the country's population of 92 million, are the Middle East's largest Christian minority and one of the oldest.
The two men are due to walk together to the Coptic church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the heart of Cairo, which was hit by a bomb attack in December claimed by ISIL that killed 29 people.
The attack was the deadliest targeting the Coptic community since the 2011 suicide bombing that killed 23 people in Alexandria. [AFP]