Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said “there is a common enemy endangering our people,” but that Egypt will “fight its own battle against this common enemy,” in a meeting on 11 September in Jeddah meant to discuss regional and internationals ways to combat “terrorism”.
His words came after US president Barak Obama said in a speech he gave on Wednesday night that the United States would be building “a broad coalition of partners” to fight the “terrorist threat”.
“Over the last several years, we have consistently taken the fight to terrorists who threaten our country,” Obama said in his speech. “I can announce that America will lead a broad coalition to roll back this terrorist threat.”
Obama said that Kerry was in Iraq on Wednesday and added that “”in the coming days he will travel across the Middle East and Europe to enlist more partners in this fight, especially Arab nations who can help mobilise Sunni communities in Iraq and Syria, to drive these terrorists from their lands.”
“Our objective is clear: We will degrade, and ultimately destroy, ISIL through a comprehensive and sustained counterterrorism strategy,” the US president said.
He also said that the US conducted 150 “successful airstrikes” in Iraq to stop the advances of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Sham (ISIS), the extremist group which calls itself the “Islamic State”.
On the other hand, Shoukry stated in the Jeddah meeting that “It is not at all logical for us to mobilise our resources together to defeat ISIS while these resources are obscured from Egypt as it fights its own battle against this common enemy on its own lands.”
Shoukry added that the “terrorist threat” should not be underestimated in Libya saying that “After it [the terrorist threat], failed in fulfilling its goals in Egypt’s Sinai, these organisations seek to topple the understanding of the state in Libya.”
Shoukry stated that ISIS is the “natural result” of the “deterioration of the political circumstances in the region,” and added that there must be focus on maintaining “political operations,” and “legitimate democratic institutions.”
He added that Egypt has had some “successes” in “fighting terrorism” and stated that the “June 30 revolution was successful ridding the Egyptian people of Muslim Brotherhood rule.”
Since the military ouster of former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, the Egyptian authorities have detained and killed thousands of people.
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, Jordan, Turkey and the US will also attended the meeting, according to the official Saudi press agency.
