President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi discussed on Tuesday with the UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura the updates of the situation in Syria and the UN’s efforts towards reaching a political compromise to the crisis.
The meeting, which was held in Cairo, included the attendance of Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry; the acting chief of Egypt’s General Intelligence Service, Abbas Kamel; and the UN secretary general’s deputy special envoy for Syria, Ramzy Ezz El-Din, according to a statement from Egypt’s presidency spokesperson Bassam Rady.
During the meeting, de Mistura briefed Al-Sisi on the continuing consequences of the Syrian crisis and its impacts on the region. He also said that the crisis has become a danger to regional and international security, in addition to its destructive humanitarian impact that has resulted in the killing of thousands of Syrians and the displacement of millions. He pointed to the necessity of all parties involved in the crisis to exert greater efforts to break the state of political deadlock. De Mistura asserted the importance of the Egyptian role in the Middle East.
For his part, Al-Sisi stressed Egypt’s continuous efforts to halt the deterioration in Syria, and to preserve the potentials of the Syrian people, in line with Egypt’s constant stance regarding the crisis, which calls for a political compromise that preserves the integrity of Syria and its institutions, and highlights the importance of supporting the Syrian people’s right to choose their destiny and form their future, as well as confronting terrorism. He stressed also that Egypt supports de Mistura’s efforts.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in Syria since the beginning of the uprising in 2011. The uprising quickly morphed into a civil war and the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad brought in forces from Iran and Russia, in addition to the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, to support him against the rebels. On the other side, hundreds of militants from all over the world went to Syria to support the Syrian rebels and the Free Syrian Army, who are fighting against Al-Assad.
