Brett Mc Gurk, the U.S.Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIS, visited Cairo for holding meetings with senior Egyptian officials to discuss cooperation in the fight against ISIS.
The Special Envoy met Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and Assistant Defense Minister Mohamed El Keshky.
According to Ahmed Abu Zeid, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Shoukry reviewed with Brett Mc Gurk Cairo’s views on recent political developments and the security situations in Syria and Libya in addition to Egypt’s efforts to restore stability and find solutions for various sources of tension in the Middle East.
On his behalf, Mc Gurk informed the Egyptian Minister on latest US evaluation on the confrontations against ISIS in Syria and Iraq as the Iraqi triumph over ISIS militants in Fallujah in Iraq.
In his meetings, the Special Envoy discussed the status of the coalition’s efforts to degrade and destroy ISIS. He explored opportunities to strengthen cooperation between the United States and Egypt in combatting ISIS’s growing threat and exchanged views on how best to counter the threat posed by ISIS’s regional affiliates.
Moreover, Mc Gurk expressed his country’s appreciation of Egypt’s significant role in anti-radicalism commending Al-Azhar University’s intellectual and reforming role in that regard according to the statement. In the same context, US Special envoy invited Shoukry to attend the ministerial meeting of the Global Coalition to Counter ISIS that will be held in Washington DC on July 21.
Egypt’s armed forces are launching massive attacks in the Sinai Peninsula against Sinai Province, a group affiliated with the Islamic State. However, Egypt’s armed and police forces have failed to curb the threat of ISIS militants who target security checkpoints and camps related to the Egyptian forces. The militants also targeted the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) airbase at al-Jura as well as the Russian passenger jet in October 2015, killing all 224 passengers and crew on board. Sinai Province claimed responsibility for downing the Russian plane at the time.
