Can Internal Auditors Rely on the Work of External Auditors ?

My LinkedIn connection and a member of my group " Internal Audit & Risk Management Consultants ", Mostapha Osman has written an article in the Banker Middle East magazine (page 36 of the March 2014 issue) raising an interesting issue : "Internal Audit Reliance on External Audit in the Middle East " The article discusses whether internal auditors can rely on the work of external auditors and use it as part of their internal audit work. The issue here ,obviously, relates to the work  external auditors perform in the course of their normal external audit procedures and does not refer to any internal audit outsourcing /co - sourcing activities. he concluded the article by saying :

 "We truly believe that Internal Audit function should not rely on external auditors "

I encourage you to read the article ( to which I have provided  link above) to get an understanding on  how he  has arrived at this conclusion. Please share your experience and thoughts .

P.S : I had the pleasure of meeting with Mostapha face to face ,and had a fruitful discussion about our profession !