(Photo Ministry of Foreign Affairs Handout)
Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry went to Paris Monday for an international conference to discuss ways to support the new Iraqi government against the “threat of terrorism”, particularly ISIS.
During the conference, attended by over 20 countries, Shoukry said the threat of terrorism confronts all countries, especially in the Arab world, according to a Monday statement of the foreign ministry. He added that Egyptians have suffered during the last two years when extremism held power.
He also said that this phenomenon requires “comprehensive confrontation”, as extremist ideology cannot be negotiated with to reach a compromise.
Dealing effectively with the threat of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Sham (ISIS) necessitates dealing with the political and cultural dimensions that lead to its spread, the minister said. Confronting ISIS via the military is not enough, had added, as it is important to eliminate sources that fund terrorist organisations.
On the sidelines of the meeting, Shoukry discussed with his British counterpart Philip Hammond efforts to confront extremism and terrorism in the Middle East.
US Secretary of State John Kerry toured the region last week visiting Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Turkey to build a broad coalition to confront the threat of ISIS.
In a press conference held in Cairo on Saturday, Kerry said the only way to defeat the threat of ISIS lies in building a broad coalition that was announced by US President Barack Obama, to support the Iraqi government through providing military support.
Shoukry noted that Egypt pledged support to the US coalition against ISIS.
Earlier in September a meeting was held in Jeddah to discuss regional and internationals ways to combat “terrorism”, where Shoukry said: “There is a common enemy endangering our people,” and Egypt will “fight its own battle against this common enemy.”
