Egypt has evidence on countries sponsoring terrorism: FM

CAIRO – 9 July 2017: Egypt intends to present evidence on certain governments guilty of sponsoring international terrorism at the Global Coalition Against Daesh meeting due to be held in the U.S. capital of Washington next week, according to an official statement by the Foreign Ministry.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid urged the international community to intensify counter-terrorism efforts and to face the powers that support extremism in a statement on Sunday.

The ministry’s words come after Egypt and a number of Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E., and Bahrain, severed their ties with Qatar last month over accusations of the Gulf nation’s support for terrorist groups.

Egypt and other Arab countries are set to participate in the meetings to help in the development of a comprehensive vision of the war against terrorism, Abu-Zaid added.
Egypt, as the most populous country in the Middle East, has been plagued with an Islamist insurgency led by Islamic State affiliated groups in the North Sinai over the last few years, leaving hundreds of victims among the police and military forces as well as civilians.

The 72-member Global Coalition Against Daesh will convene in Washington as the Iraqi military forces, with the help of U.S.-led airstrikes, managed to retake the Islamic State’s stronghold of Mosul in northern Iraq on Sunday. Additional major operations are currently also underway against the terrorist group’s positions in Syria.

The last meeting of the coalition took place in Washington on 22 March.