Saturday, September 13, 2014

Egypt's president Sisi: Don't just focus on Islamic State

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi told visiting US Secretary of State John Kerry that any international coalition against terrorism should not just focus on Islamic State militants, the presidency said in a statement on Saturday.
Sisi also expressed concerns about foreign fighters in Islamic State and the danger they posed to their home countries because of Western passports that can get get them through airports undetected.
Egyptian security officials have said Islamic State has established contacts with Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, the country's most dangerous militant group, which has killed hundreds of security forces since the army toppled Islamist President Mohamed Mursi last year after mass protests against him.
Egypt would certainly welcome action against Ansar as well as Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood, which it has declared a terrorist group.
Sisi said any international coalition to combat terrorism "should be comprehensive and not exclusively target a specific organization or eradicate a certain terrorist hotspot", said the presidency.
"Rather, the coalition should extend to encompass combating terrorism wherever it exists in the Middle East and African regions."
The statement added that Sisi "warned of the repercussions from the involvement of foreign militants in ongoing regional conflicts".

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