Egypt's foreign minister warns Security Council of the dangers of terrorism

Saturday 20-09-2014 11:55 AM
Egypt's foreign minister warns Security Council of the dangers of terrorism

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry gestures during a United Nations Security Council meeting on Iraq at U.N. headquarters in New York, September 19, 2014. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

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CAIRO, Sept 20 (Aswat Masriya) – Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shokri warned the United Nations' Security Council on Friday of the dangers of terrorism which "threaten all".

Shokry represented Egypt in a convention for the Security Council, presided over by United States Secretary of State John Kerry, regarding the situation in Iraq and the proliferation of the Islamic State fighters. 

The council urged the international community to "work closely" with the new Iraqi government on implementing its "new political agenda".

Iraq has elected a new government two weeks ago. Former Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has often been accused of favouring Shiites and isolating Sunnis in his government. His actions have been seen as mong the triggers for the proliferation of the extremist Islamic State fighters within Iraq and Syria.

Shokri said the Arab world is threatened by "extremist ideologies hiding behind religious slogans as a means for committing brutal violations against those who are different," adding that such ideologies contradict the modern-state concept. 

"It is important not to overlook the political and cultural dimensions which contributed to the proliferation of the phenomenon of terrorism," the minister said, according to a foreign ministry statement released on Saturday. 

On September 11, Saudi Arabia hosted talks in Jeddah to discuss means of combating extremist groups within the region.The talks, attended by representatives from the U.S. as well as Arab and Muslim countries, granted the support of 10 Arab countries - including Egypt - to the U.S. in a "coordinated military campaign" against Islamic State fighters in Iraq.

Shokri referred to the Jeddah talks while addressing the Security Council, stressing that the talks were in line with a Security Council resolution and another resolution by the Arab League on combating the Islamic State fighters in Iraq.

Another conference on the situation in Iraq, hosted by Paris on Monday and attended by 30 states including Egypt, saw the Iraqi government demanding military support to face terrorism.

"Egypt, for its part, is committed to providing Iraq with the appropriate support and cooperating to eliminate the Islamic State fighters and all terrorist organisations worldwide," Shokri was quoted by Foreign Ministry Spokesman Badr Abdelatty as saying.

During a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Kerry last week, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said the newly formed coalition of the U.S. and Arab states should fight other militant groups in the region and not just Islamic State fighters.

Islamic State fighters have controlled large areas of Iraq and Syria recently. They have carried out a number of mass executions and beheaded two American journalists and a British national.

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